


You Again (Spirited Away 2)

by armineous



Category: Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi | Spirited Away
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:21:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 29
Words: 65,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23574562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/armineous/pseuds/armineous
Summary: When Chihiro accidentally returns to the Spirit World 10 years later, everything is perfect. However, it seems her arrival isn't just coincidence at all.A dark and powerful force named Akumu Kage wishes total control over the two realms—both Spirit and Human World. It is an unavoidable war between the two worlds.A prophecy awaits Chihiro. A mortal and a god must destroy Akumu before it's too late—even if it means sacrificing everything.How will they fare in a game of life and death?(also published in Wattpad under the username @/armineous)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1: In Which She Returns

**CHIHIRO DROVE INTO** the garage of her house before Sadashi could complain about the mess the trash can did to the garden outside. She didn't really want to clog Sadashi's already busy mind with more problems; she brought her here to relax with her while she got away for the weekend.

Sadashi got out of the car with a loud banging noise made by forcefully closing the passenger door. Chihiro gasped as she darted her head towards her best friend. She wanted to remind her that she didn't have to do that, but Sadashi was in a really hot temper to even scold at her. Reluctantly, she let it slip, although she would apparently have to remind Sadashi to be more careful.

Opening the door that connects the garage and the house, Chihiro led Sadashi inside and invited her to sit in the living room as she went to the kitchen fridge to grab a drink or two.

It was very quiet inside her house, only having to hear the faint buzzing of the fridge and the gentle chirping of the birds outside. Yuuko and Akio, Chihiro's parents, were not home during the day and would only come home during the night. This day would be much different however, as Yuuko and Akio were on vacation and are going to be off for about two weeks. Chihiro couldn't care less; she loved it when the house was quiet. Plus, she didn't have to hear the nagging of her mother every single minute. She smiled softly at this thought.

"Chihiro?" Sadashi's voice sounded a little bit soft in contrast to all her actions earlier. Chihiro turned her head towards Sadashi, who was now standing by the kitchen doorway. "Hey, you don't have to bring out refreshments. I'm seriously not even that thirsty."

Chihiro nodded but took out two bottles of apple juice anyway. "You're tired from all the schoolwork, Sadashi. You may want to have some apple juice too." She winked at her best friend before tossing her a bottle and to her surprise, Sadashi caught it even without any signs of panic. "A good catcher you are, eh?"

Sadashi nervously chuckled. "I'm used to it. From all the training I've received to all the sou—" Then she stopped as her eyes widened with fear. Chihiro was not listening and only heard bits and pieces of what Sadashi told her. "Just normal stuff."

"I can see how that is," Chihiro noted as she watched Sadashi twirl her short raven locks of hair with her fingers. It shone as it boasted how much care its owner had for it. Chihiro had really dull dark brown locks which she never had the time to groom. "You're probably used to being thrown objects at that you're super calm about it. Like... you've never let your guard down."

The other party smiled weakly as Chihiro led her out of the kitchen and back into the living room. They sat opposite of each other, talking nonstop. Their discussion revolved around their college classes, their families, and even men.

"Chihiro, I think it's time you get a _proper_ boyfriend," Sadashi said before taking a sip from her delicious fruity drink. "You're so lonely."

"I don't need a man, Sadashi," the brunette hissed. "I'm a strong independent woman. I can do things on my own without asking for some arrogant crap for help."

Sadashi raised her chin and looked at Chihiro from an angle as if she was belittling her. "I've heard. You did a lot of things in your youth." This made Chihiro confused, but Sadashi decided to continue with a much more enthusiastic tone. "Oh, actually, I have this friend who might need your help. Consider yourself a damsel in distress."

"What's with him?"

Sadashi grinned. "Well, he's in need of some help from some enemies. And dude, he's so hot you couldn't ever resist him. He also knows you."

Chihiro winced in her seat, making Sadashi erupt into a fit of laughter. "What's his name? Is he from my Philosophy class?"

"Oh, I can't tell you his name just yet. He says he met you when you were a kid, so you'll probably remember who he was anyway."

"Ah really? Well, if that's the case"—Chihiro shot her friend a stern look—"then I object."

Sadashi groaned. "You're no fun, Chi. Please just meet him. You don't really have to date him or anything. Who knows, you might gain a friend."

"Why don't you just date him then?"

"No way," Sadashi said bitterly as if she tasted a pill in her mouth. "He's too stubborn for me."

"Then do the honors and take him off the list. I'm not interested."

She knelt in front of Chihiro with her eyes begging her. "Oh please, dear Chi; if you do meet him, I promise I won't ever bring up a topic like this ever again!" she purred, much to Chihiro's dismay.

Chihiro had a good look at Sadashi. Certainly, she felt a little annoyed since she'd have to drive both of them to some bar (probably) and have to meet him. However, some gut feeling told her that she just had to. Unwillingly, she nodded her head to dismiss Sadashi's awful look.

"Oh, great!" Sadashi exclaimed as she leaped with joy across the living room. "Let's leave right now. And don't you worry, I'm driving."

* * *

* * *

Chihiro didn't expect Sadashi to pull up in front of a temple out of all places. She studied the area as she absentmindedly fidgeted with the purple hair tie that held back her long hair. The place was crowded with trees that she could barely see the sky. There was a Dosojin statue in front of them, which rang bells in Chihiro's mind. As she stared at the smiling egg-like statue covered in moss, she felt a small breeze coming from the back of her head. She reached her arm out and tried to trace where it was from. She gasped when she realized it was coming from her purple hair tie.

"Hey." Chihiro instantly snapped out from her trance, looking at Sadashi as her worried expression faded into a nervous one.

"We're in the middle of nowhere," she stated as she eyed on the dark open tunnel in front of her. "We're in the middle of nowhere. Do you want us to get kidnapped? Sadashi, are you insane?"

Sadashi giggled. "No, silly, the fun's across the tunnel. The boy I'm talking about lives on the other side. He told me that he will meet us by the bathhouse."

Chihiro wasn't very stupid enough to fall into traps, but she felt like Sadashi wasn't actually lying to her when she said that. They got out of the car and walked towards the tunnel and stopped just behind the Dosojin statue protecting the entrance. She felt her heart quiver uneasily as she held on to Sadashi's arm Together, they stepped inside the tunnel and walked towards the other side.

The breeze her hair tie was emitting became even stronger, but it seemed to have only affected her mind. Her hair was still neatly tied back and showed no signs of dishevelment. Her hands felt no wind as well. _Strange phenomenon,_ Chihiro thought dryly.

They walked until they reached an open space with a few dusty chairs. It looked like an abandoned waiting area for a train station. Chihiro just studied the place with confusion but didn't really put much thought into it.

Finally, after what felt like forever, they reached a meadow full of green grass. She gasped in awe as she looked around. There was a hill of green grass before her, complementing the oh-so blue sky above her. It seemed like a dream, but to Chihiro, it felt so familiar.

And that's when it hit her all at once. The breeze strengthened as it enveloped her head and she just stood there stuck in her thoughts. New memories and scenarios played in her head and for a moment, she thought that she was going insane. New faces began to swirl in her consciousness as they spoke to her.

Sadashi gasped as she watched Chihiro's eyes turn white. She wanted to tap her shoulder but hesitated as she recalled what he had instructed her. _Memories will return to Chihiro's mind as soon as she steps into the Spirit World,_ he had told her months ago. _Don't interrupt this and let her deal with it._

The breeze died when Chihiro's eyes suddenly became normal. But as Sadashi looked at her, Chihiro's eyes were wide and she was shaking.

"A-All of these...were real?" she managed to mutter as she recovered from the shock. She put her fingers to her cheek as she caressed it. For a moment, Sadashi thought she was going to buck her knees and fall into the green grass below them. But Chihiro turned to her friend and just stared into Sadashi's dark eyes.

"Sadashi, are you...human?"

Sadashi shook her head.

"Then what are you?"

"I am...I'll explain it to you later. Or he will—"

"Who is _he_?" Chihiro retorted. "The boy you were talking about? Are you nuts? We're in the Spirit World. This is hysterical, Sadashi! Why are we here?"

But Sadashi just remained quiet as she grabbed Chihiro's arm and pulled her across the meadow and into the town. The anger Chihiro felt evaporated once they swept past the buildings. It was so familiar and she already knew why. Her memories have finally filled in the gap in her head.

Sadashi handed over a pea-sized berry and instructed Chihiro to eat it. No questions were asked since the human already knew why she had to eat it. It had been exactly what had happened 10 years ago; when _he_ forcefully fed her a piece of the berry so she wouldn't disappear.

They stopped before the red bridge, which Chihiro remembered quite clearly. _She stood on the railings and to her surprise, she found him staring at her. Then he had told her to go back to where she came from, but she couldn't._

She couldn't even believe everything was real, even if he was standing there meters away from her. He definitely changed a lot since they had met years ago. He seemed to have matured over the years, his face a little more chiseled than before. His eyes were still those glassy jade almond-shaped windows that looked straight into her soul. His hair definitely did not change, although it grew a few more inches than she remembered it to be. His body seemed to have been slightly built but not really buff. He wore a white tunic and light blue trousers. She gulped when her eyes laid on the hilt of a katana attached to a belt that wrapped his waist.

"Have you stared enough?" he said in the same voice he once had, although it was a little deeper than before. He looked at her with a piercing glance that made her feel like she was about to evaporate into thin air.

Sadashi moved forward and knelt on one foot as her head dropped down. "Master, I have brought Chihiro Ogino to you as you have wished." He glanced at her quickly before setting his eyes back at Chihiro, who had a sudden interest in her shoes.

His face changed abruptly as Chihiro lowered her head too in respect. He gave her a warm smile which made her feel very weak. "You don't have to, my friend. You already know me, but since you've lost your memories, let me introduce myself once again." Then he stepped closer to her, to which she almost squeaked.

"I'm—"

"You're Haku," she whispered as she lifted her face to look at him. Taken aback from his sincere smile, she widened her eyes. "I-I don't mean to interrupt! I'm so sorry—"

He laughed at her and she calmed a bit. "It's no biggie. I'm just glad you remembered me."

She gave him a nervous laugh. "Once you've met someone, you'll never really forget them." His smile never left his face as his eyes gleamed with wonder. She couldn't help but admire him. _Okay,_ she thought, _Sadashi was right._

Sadashi cleared her throat and Haku snapped his head towards her, forgetting she was there. "Ah yes," he coughed as his expression turned sour. "I can't thank you enough for bringing her here. You are dismissed."

She gave a small bow and walked passed them, glancing at Chihiro one last time to wink at her. Wanting to call her back just because she felt really uncomfortable, Chihiro lunged forward, only to have Haku grab her arm. She gasped and turned crimson at this as she felt the hair in her limbs rise.

"Sadashi will need to do a Cleansing Ritual after being in the Human World for a long time. In the meanwhile, you and I have something to discuss," Haku said softly as he let go of Chihiro's arm. She only looked up at him for a short moment before averting his startling gaze. She nodded to show that she understood what he had just said, however, and let him lead her to wherever they were going to talk.

The bathhouse was indeed the same as it had been a decade ago; the only difference was there was a new elevator, one that had no labels whatsoever. Chihiro figured the reason behind it was to keep the guests from accidentally taking this elevator.

As they hopped into the elevator, tension filled between the spirit and the human and nobody dared to break it apart. She wanted to give Haku a good glance but she was already flustered by his presence alone to have the courage to even look at him. It felt like what had happened ten years ago when Haku was asked by Yubaba to lead Chihiro to the departments in the spirits' quarters. Her lips instantly formed a frown at the thought of this.

"H-Haku, um..." She found herself stammering so she decided to not continue. He, on the other hand, gave her a soft _hmm_ as he encouraged her to continue. "Is Sadashi human?"

She heard him let out a sigh. "Well," he said calmly, "she is not. She is a spirit, like me, although she serves me like _an...apprentice_ , as much as I despise using such a term." The elevator doors immediately swung open, much to Chihiro's surprise, making her lose her balance. It was a good thing Haku managed to grab her waist before she could fall. She muttered a small thank you before following him into the blue corridors of the unfamiliar floor.

The whole floor appeared to be very bright and it reminded her of the beach. The translucent paper screens on most of the wall would be the sandy beach, where you can overlook the magnificent sea that stretched the horizon. The blue floor would be the sea itself, while the ceiling is the sky.

Haku led her to the end of the corridor, which led to a large circular open space that had two more doors inside. The majority of the white marble floor was elevated so that in the middle it would be a hearth. Windows were on one side, while the two doors mentioned earlier were on the opposite. Chihiro noticed the minimal furniture and design the open space had; having only a long couch on one side and the hearth.

They walked towards the second door from the corridor and Haku opened it, beckoning Chihiro to go inside. He reached for the wall and with a click, the lights opened.

The room was very spacious as it only had one queen-sized bed by the wall and a closet opposite it. There were four translucent paper screens on the far end of the room.

Haku leaned against the wall as Chihiro studied the room. "You'll be staying here for the moment. Don't worry about the clothes and...necessities you may need. I had Sadashi stock up that cabinet. Get comfortable right now; Sadashi will call you since we're going to have lots of explaining to do." And with that, he turned around and shut the door.


	2. Chapter 2: In Which She Learns the Past, Present, and Future

**CHIHIRO MANAGED TO RUMMAGE** through the cabinet and found herself very impressed. Around twenty different kinds of clothes hung by a pole in the middle of the cabinet. Drawers surrounded the pole and when examined, contained pieces of undergarments, some feminine essentials that Chihiro would definitely need to go on each month, and some toiletries. In her mind, she never stopped wondering how Haku managed to get this. He probably sent Sadashi to buy all of these in the human world.

 _Poor Sadashi,_ she thought as she pouted. But she figured that Sadashi didn't feel annoyed with her job at even the slightest. She remembered working for Yubaba back when she was 10 and how important it was for her to have a job so she would be under Yubaba's protection. It must've been the same for Sadashi and Haku. Chihiro felt a little pang of jealousy, but she didn't exactly know why and found herself stupid for even feeling like that in the first place.

There was a knock on the door and Chihiro immediately rushed to open it, finding Sadashi bowing at her. The human arched an eyebrow and slightly parted her lips as she stared at Sadashi. "Why are you doing this?" she asked her friend softly. "Sadashi...."

The other girl stood up straight and genuinely smiled at Chihiro, making her even more confused to the point wherein she felt a little annoyed. But she couldn't really blame Sadashi; it must've been her job to do that. _Oh, Haku,_ she thought bitterly, _how badly can you treat your assistant?_

"Master Haku is now asking for your presence, milady. Please come with me," was all Sadashi said, her tone very welcoming but oddly formal.

Chihiro pursed her lips. "Why are you calling me that—"

Sadashi erupted into a fit of laughter and soon, Chihiro gave her a weak smile. "I'm joking; don't take it too seriously. But good idea, I should start practicing for when you become Haku's wife or something." The spirit pinched Chihiro's now tinted cheeks while giggling in amusement. The latter did not seem amused at all, although she would probably admit that she felt butterflies in her stomach.

Never had she thought of pursuing things with Haku, who she found irresistibly attractive. Even if she had the slightest of feelings for him, the chance of him liking her that way would come on the first of never. There was a literal distinction between them—he was a god and a powerful sorcerer. He was very cunning and brave that it would make a lot of females weak and coo over him. He was a lot of things which she would never be.

She was a nobody; an ordinary human girl with such untamed hair and clumsy movements. It would be an insult to him if they fell in love. Chihiro finally took a deep breath and dismissed the thought.

They walked back into the hallway, stopping in front of a paper screen with three dots painted red in the middle. Sadashi pushed the paper screen to one side, stepping inside and inviting Chihiro to between Haku, who was on the head of the table, and a very familiar face.

"Chihiro!" Lin lunged forward and flung her arms around the human, hugging her so tight she could've broken a few ribs. "Oh my god, you have turned into such a hottie! I bet the boys in the Human World are running around trying to court you."

Haku cleared his throat and immediately, Lin sprung back to her seat and glared at him. He didn't seem to care, however. "We're here to discuss an important matter with Chihiro Ogino." He turned towards Sadashi, who was seated opposite of Chihiro.

"Chihiro, do you know why you're here?" she asked as she looked at Chihiro with a grave look on her face, who only shook her head. "You are here before us albeit the dangers that can harm you in this world. We have reluctantly invited you here after much thought.

"All spirits present in the table have encountered Ekisha, the great seer of the land, in their dreams. The lady told us all of a prophecy about Akumu's return into the Spirit World and how he will—"

"Sadashi," Haku snarled, one of his fists balling as he glared at her. "It is not your job to tell what the seer has prophesized."

Sadashi looked at the ceiling with a frown but nodded anyway. "Anyway, the prophecy states that a human will be needed to defeat Akumu. Any questions?"

Chihiro looked from Lin to Haku, then at Sadashi, whom she asked, "Who is Akumu?"

Sadashi looked pale. "Then I guess it's storytime. Once upon a time, there was a dark spirit called Akumu Kage. He ruled over the dark part of this world, where he spent most of his life luring spirits in and feeding off of their souls to make himself stronger. One day, while on her way to her home, Ichika, the goddess of cherry blossoms got lost and accidentally ended up in Akumu's territory.

"Of course, Akumu didn't seem pleased with the trespasser. Just as he was about to pulverize her, Ichika begged him to spare her life. Akumu agreed to let her go, but only in one condition: that she bare him a son who will live with him.

"And of course, she did. Three months later, she gave birth to twins. Unbeknownst to Akumu, there was a prophecy that his second son will take him down. When the dark lord heard about this, he was furious and petrified that he even threatened Ichika to kill the second son as he took the first and never came back.

"The mother, of course, couldn't kill her child. So instead, she gave him to a powerful witch who promised to protect him if he worked as her apprentice for the rest of his life. The mother couldn't do anything but agree to this, fearful for the life of her son, and so she left him, not showing up at all until a human set her son free."

Chihiro eyebrows scrunched together. Then she gasped. "You're Akumu's—"

"Son?" Haku finished for her, making an expression that showed how unfortunate he was. "As ugly as it sounds, yes, I am his _beloved_ son. I am destined to take him down with your help."

There was silence as she absentmindedly fidgeted with the lip of her teacup. "But why me?" she could only ask softly, her voice sounding very fragile.

"Because you saved me," he replied, scowling at both Lin and Sadashi, who were previously giggling as they had their own talk. "And so you are bound to this prophecy. I didn't want you involved if I'll be frank with you. We tried pleading with Ekisha if we could do it on our own, or if we could summon another human to fight with us. But unfortunately, the _damn_ prophecy chose you."

Chihiro watched as he tried to hold back his anger. "I wouldn't have gone the extra mile to have Sadashi fetch you from the Human World if only I would be affected by Akumu. However, he plans on wiping out all of those against her and not just me and my mother; that includes your world too, Chihiro."

She felt like there was a lump in her throat. Suddenly, the responsibility presented before her was something she had to take seriously.

"It would've been much more dangerous to have you alone in the Human World too, Chi," Lin spoke up as she patted her shoulder. "Akumu has human spies watching on you all the time. If you were found alone, they would've murdered you."

"What about...my parents?" Chihiro queried before nervously taking a sip of her now already cold tea. "The spies—"

"Their target is you, and so we focused on rescuing you. Your parents evacuated to Tokyo, where Ichika's human descendants are now keeping an eye on them. That should ease your worries somehow."

Chihiro gulped. Just yesterday, she was happy and worry-free, having only to attend to her college career. Now, she had the biggest responsibility weighing on her shoulders—the world counted on her.

Haku coughed to call back their attention to him. "Sadashi, please answer the door." Sadashi bowed her head and ran up to the door to open it, inviting another guest inside.

Chihiro only had a good look at the guest when he was properly seated beside Sadashi. He had short blonde hair that seemed to shine brightly and violet eyes that looked very energetic. Fair in complexion and prominent in features, he could easily pass off as the next Mr. Japan.

He grinned at Haku, who only sneered at him. "I see you have her already," he chimed in as he took one of the biscuits and turned the silence into an ASMR show. The river god didn't seem pleased.

"Chihiro, this is Kigaha, the god of the Aokigahara forest. Feel free to punch him in the face if he becomes an asshole," he muttered with a deadpanned expression directed at the god munching on the biscuits. Kigaha only chuckled in delight.

"Nice to meet you, Chihiro," he mused, grabbing another biscuit and ignoring how Haku's nostrils flared up. "I've heard quite a lot about you from dear Kohaku, isn't that right?"

She saw green fire erupt at the back of Haku's eyes, but it died down quickly when he caught her shocked expression. He darted his head back towards Kigaha as a smirk formed in his lips. Before he could curse at the forest god, Chihiro decided to ask a question that has been lingering in her head.

"I've never seen this floor 10 years ago. Was this here even before I came? And does Yubaba know I am here?" she asked away, her eyebrows scrunching.

Lin decided to answer for her. "It's fairly new, actually. This floor was formerly a laundry place, but lizard boy over here"—she and Haku exchanged glares—" decided to claim it since nobody ever did their laundry here. Yubaba didn't really have a choice since Haku is a god. And to answer your last question; yes, she knows, but she couldn't care less."

"But I thought he quit his apprenticeship?"

"Yes, I did," snapped Haku. "But I didn't really have a place to stay in then. I didn't want to stay with Ichika because we never really spoke a lot. So apparently, when Yubaba learned that about the prophecy, she asked for her son and her bathhouse's protection in exchange for a free stay here. I agreed and requested that she wouldn't harm any of my guests."

Chihiro nodded as she remained silent. A lot has happened over the course of just 10 years, which is surprising since a decade wouldn't have much significance to someone who has eternal life. It scared her a little to know that a lot would have happened in the past millennium. Shivers ran down her spine.

All thoughts in her head were interrupted when the telephone in one corner of the room rang loudly. Sadashi rose up and answered it. "Y-Yes Madam...? Oh. Okay." She put down the phone and looked at Lin, who cursed under her breath and got up, not before giving Chihiro a tight hug. 

"Yubaba's calling for me now," she said distastefully. "It's almost night and customers will soon be pouring in. I'll visit you here some time if you want to talk, alright?" With that, she left the room, leaving Chihiro with Sadashi, an angry river god, and the hungry forest god in silence.

Chihiro decided to ask about her college since leaving the Human World would result in her absence in her classes. Haku lowered his head so that his hair covered his face, but didn't let Sadashi answer the question. "Do you know that time moves very slowly in this world? For instance, seven days here would be two days in the Human World. So if you would be gone for, let's say, 3 months, that would mean—"

"I'd be gone for 24 days?" she gasped, meeting his jade eyes. "That would be almost a month! I can't afford that in college."

"Well, Sadashi here is an expert in tampering with human minds. A few spells and she could make your professors think that you were never absent in your classes. If you want, she can also make you receive high marks..."

Chihiro's jaw dropped slightly at the explanation he gave her. She didn't know this form of cheating would actually be possible. Imagine just passing without even making an effort to listen to your professors' lectures. It was definitely unfair to her classmates. She wanted to protest, but she just nodded instead. _Well, I'd be saving the world anyway, right?_

She pressed her lips in a tight line. "How come the time here is different from that of the Human world? 10 years ago it was all different."

"No, it wasn't," Kigaha said grimly before Haku could talk, receiving a glare from the latter. "It has always been like this. Time here moves much faster than the Human World, making it much harder for spirits to tamper with the forcefield surrounding the gateway connecting the two worlds. If you need me to explain the science involved in that—"

Chihiro whimpered as she waved her hands. "No, thank you. It's far too complex for me to know that. But I appreciate your offer. So...um...since you're the spirit that rules over the Aokigahara forest, is there a god or goddess that rules over the majestic Mt. Fuji?" Kigaha glanced at Haku nervously.

The river god chuckled. "There is," he said without looking at her. "His name is Fujiroshi, and he's my mother's husband. He doesn't really hate me exactly, but he thinks I never should've been born."

Kigaha leaned towards Sadashi and whispered something into her ear, making her turn red. They both turned to look at Chihiro and Haku and giggled.

"I heard what you were fuzzing about, you pinheads," Haku grumbled, his cheeks turning pink even as he was glowering at the both of them. "This discussion is over. You are all dismissed."

As Chihiro got up, she was immediately knocked down by Sadashi, who accidentally kicked the table towards her in an attempt to escape the room as soon as possible. The human hissed in pain as her head hit the table, although she seemed to have gotten over it. Sadashi gasped and bowed down to the floor.

"Chihiro, I'm sorry!" she apologized, approaching her friend to help, only to be stopped by Haku's glare.

"Go rest up, Sadashi," he muttered nonchalantly as he moved over to Chihiro. "Tomorrow will be a busy day." Reluctantly, Sadashi bowed to her master and left, with Kigaha faintly chuckling behind her. Now it was just Chihiro and Haku.

Haku, whose expression had been stoic ever since the meeting started, had shifted to a much tranquil one as he put one hand on Chihiro's forehead. He proceeded to chant some spell as a soft glow radiated from his hand, disappearing after the ache she felt subsided.

She gasped in shock as she felt normal once again. "You didn't have to," she managed to say before pressing her hand on her forehead to see if the pain really was gone.

He heaved a sigh, muttering something under his breath as he set his hands on the table, making all the cups and plates move by magic, cleaning then shoving themselves back to the shelf in the far end of the room. When he turned to Chihiro, he found her eyes glinting with amusement. He could only plaster a smile on his face.

"Hey, you should get to bed. It's pretty late right now. There are some things we might need to do tomorrow."

She slowly looked at him before pursing her lips and nodding. Without a word, she rose up from her spot and exited, but not before she mustered up the courage to say, "Y-You too. Good night—I mean, morning! Sweet dreams."


	3. Chapter 3: In Which She Doubts Herself

**CHIHIRO WOKE UP** six hours after trying very hard to adjust to her bed. For some reason, she felt really dizzy and hot, but she decided it was because she didn't sleep very well. Quickly getting off the bed, she dashed towards her cabinet, grabbing a towel and some bath essentials. The only thing left to find is the bathroom. She slid into the corridor, quietly closing the door behind her. She walked past the first door, thinking it was the bathroom.

Hesitantly, she opened the door and peeked inside. It was another room, although much larger than hers, but almost the same furniture as her. She couldn't quite figure out who it was lying under the thick sheets but she persistently studied the figure.

When Chihiro realized who it was, she immediately but carefully closed the door and went back to her hunt for the bathroom. After at least five minutes, she finally got there, only to be surprised by how extra it was set up. As you enter the bathroom, a large white tub greeted her, steaming water already inside. There was also a modern toilet, which added to her confusion. She figured the spirits must have already caught up with the technology of the Human World. A note addressed to her was on one of the tables, which was from Sadashi.

_Chihiro,_

_I prepared a hot bath for you as Master Haku requested. Drop your dirty clothes in the hamper and relax. After you get dressed, go back to the meeting room and eat your breakfast. There will be an interesting vial by your utensils, which you must drink after you've eaten. Do not doubt it; it will make you feel much better._

_When you're done, knock on the door beside the bathroom. There's something I have to discuss with you._

_\- Sadashi_

She set the note and her towel aside as she stripped her clothes off her and tossed it to a hamper before stepping inside the relaxing pool of steam and hot water. It burned her skin a little, but she got used to the heat after a few moments of eye-shutting stinging. She allowed herself to sink up to the base of her neck as she set aside all her problems in the meanwhile.

She hadn't really given much thought about what had been happening lately. What worried her the most was her parents' safety. She felt very puny considering she couldn't do anything to protect them and other people had to do it for her. If her parents really were under Ichika's descendants' care, then maybe she shouldn't really worry much. But then again, she barely knew who these people were, let alone their real intentions. She remembered that Lin assured her of their safety and that she needed to worry more about herself. She heaved a sigh of moderate frustration.

Her thoughts then shifted towards Haku, who she happened to be attracted to, physically speaking. Well, she did have a crush on him when she was 10, but she didn't know what it was back then. He probably didn't see her _that_ way anyway, so thinking about his non-existent feelings was pretty much useless. She knew that she had to keep her feelings hidden at all costs as to not make things awkward between them.

He definitely had changed not only physically but also personality-wise. Back then, he was very calm and welcoming. Although he retained those aspects, he seemed to have gotten bossy and arrogant. This turned her off a little, but she didn't really know the reasoning behind it so it would be much better to let it go.

Then she focused on Sadashi, who she pitied for having to serve the stubborn dragon. She met her when she first got into college. Sadashi then seemed socially withdrawn and looked troubled. Chihiro didn't have any friends either back then so when Sadashi unexpectedly tried to talk to her, they instantly became best friends.

She let her thoughts flow in her head as she tried to relax even more. After a good fifteen minutes, she started to clean herself using soap and some shampoo. She wrapped herself in the towel she had brought and took a robe that hung on a hanger by the tub. The robe felt cool on her skin and she gasped in surprise.

She hurriedly made her way back to her room to get dressed. The outfit she chose was a plain white dress which was very loose and comfy. When she looked at the mirror, she couldn't believe how her hair managed to straighten itself and made her hair appear super smooth. _Must be the shampoo._

The dining room was unoccupied and so the lights had been switched off, except for the one that was directly above Chihiro's claimed seat. A bowl of soup and a plate of onigiri was delicately placed over a rectangular silk placemat. The chopsticks and a wooden spoon was placed beside the bowl while the vial Sadashi mentioned sparkled in between the utensils and the bowl.

She grabbed the vial as she sat down, studying its viscosity before opening the tiny lid to smell it. Its smell resembled that of a peach and has a similar consistency to honey. Without hesitation, she drank it and felt herself cringe from the bitter taste. Despite the horrible aftertaste still lingering her tongue, she felt a small boost in energy inside her. In total silence, she ate away and exited the room.

Chihiro finally got to the door Sadashi mentioned in her note and knocked on the hard wood. The door instantly threw open and she stepped back in surprise. Sadashi appeared, giggling before stepping aside to let her in.

Sadashi's room was nothing interesting to be honest as she did have the same room as Chihiro, if not messier. This side of Sadashi was nothing new to Chihiro, so she didn't really have to think much about it.

"Master Haku was supposed to be the one to discuss with you these things, but it would be much better if I gave you a heads-up," Sadashi muttered shakily. "You're going to begin training on Wednesday. It's Monday today, and so that gives you plenty of time to relax."

"Training?" asked Chihiro.

"Ah, I guess humans call it fencing. But we're going to use actual katanas and daggers in here, and without the protective equipment-"

"That's dangerous."

Sadashi rolled her eyes. "But it's much better than having no means of defense at all."

Chihiro clicked her tongue. "You could've just trained me with martial arts instead. It's not everyday that I wield a weapon."

Sadashi began pacing around the room, deep in thought. "Still, you're going to be encountering armed spirits. But I get your point. I'll go tell your instructor that."

" _My instructor_?" Chihiro's eyebrow arched.

"Yes, _your_ instructor. It was supposed to be Master Haku but he withdrew due to...personal reasons. So it's going to be Kigaha!" Her eyes started to twinkle in delight. "Would you have preferred Master Haku though?"

"No," she replied sourly, tracing circles on Sadashi's creased bedsheets. "Why are you always teasing me about him anyway? There's literally nothing going on between us, okay?"

Sadashi squealed as she brought her face closer to Chihiro's and smirked. " _Ooh, Chihiro's got a crush!_ " she mused, reaching out to pinch her friend's tinted cheek. "I ship it; _Chihaku_!"

Chihiro suddenly became defensive and swatted Sadashi's hand away, averting her gaze as she tried to regain her posture. "No, I don't. You're making me uncomfortable, Sads."

The spirit crossed her arms, pretending to be upset. "It's literally obvious, Chihiro! Look at how red you are right now. You have a crush on the river god!"

Chihiro's nostrils flared. "I already told you—"

"In denial," Sadashi teased, winking.

"He's not even _that_ attractive."

"Stop lying to yourself. You _do_ find him attractive."

"Is this really why I'm here?" Chihiro said, feeling very uncomfortable all of a sudden, or at least trying to so the topic could be shifted. "You really piss me off at times."

Sadashi looked very amused at her defeat. "Oh, whatever. We should get a bath tomorrow with Lin... maybe in the morning, what do you think? Maybe put your thoughts aside for a while and get to know what has been happening in here for the last 10 years."

Chihiro let out a small sigh of approval as her friend sat beside her, pulling her into a hug. "I'm really getting worried about things here in the Spirit Realm. The fact that I'll play a huge role in this war is enough to make me anxious."

"You won't die," Sadashi murmured against Chihiro's shoulder. "Master Haku and Kigaha are with us, so will Ichika and Fujiroshi. Zeniba and Yubaba are involved too, if that'll give you a sense of security. We're all here to protect each other. You're not alone."

"That's not...." Chihiro's voice wavered as her lips started to quiver. Hot tears streamed down her cheek and Sadashi was quick to wipe her tears with some tissue paper. "I'm worried mostly about _my_ people, especially my parents. If we lose the war, then it's a pity to ruin billions of dreams. I can't imagine how children will suffer just because I screwed up! They'll grow up with miserable lives; heck, they might not be able to see the blue sky nor feel the softness of the green grass. I don't think I'll be able to be who I once was if we fail, knowing I just ruined the lives of many."

Silence filled the air as the two girls stared at each other, one was crying softly while the other was busy stroking her back, trying to comfort her.

Sadashi pursed her lips. "And that's why you should do your best to protect them. Every single thing we will teach you will be useful in the battlefield. And remember that whatever happens, it will never be your fault, but Akumu's. He started this and now, it is our duty to stop him. So don't ever think that you have to carry such a burden, alright?"

She turned to the clock hanging on the wall in front of her. "It's five thirty. Master should be awake soon. Like I said earlier, he will call you to have a conversation. Say all you want and don't try to offend him. Though, you guys have been friends from the start, so I guess being rude to him wouldn't result in being thrown in the guillotine."

"You're going somewhere?" Chihiro asked calmly, her voice a bit shaky from the crying she did. She noticed how Sadashi quickly got up to ready some clothes.

"Cleansing business, I'm afraid," Sadashi giggled, even though what she said wasn't very amusing. "Allow me to kick you out of the door, Milady. Run along now."

Sadashi was unfortunately correct. By the time Chihiro got back into her room, she heard a knock on the door and the river god invited himself inside. He was still in his blue silk pajamas and white fluffy bunny slippers that made him look less of an authority figure. Chihiro just stared at him with disbelief as he walked towards her bed and sat down, yawning delicately.

"Rude of you to just come in," she muttered under her breath as she stood there in the middle of the room, expression almost deadpanned. She heard him chuckle before letting out a sigh.

"Well, you look like you don't want to see me," he said with a sly look on his face, but his voice didn't seem to lead on to sarcasm. He laughed when she made a slight panicky squeak. "I don't have time to wait by the door before you invite me in, so I did it by myself."

"Geez, that's nice, Captain Obvious."

He shuffled in the bed, making a face as he studied Chihiro, who was now sitting opposite of him. "What is it with humans and their _feeble_ arguments? Such things sound so similar to a fruit fly buzzing in your ear." She cleared her throat and he got back to his point. "Anyway, I'm sure Sadashi forgot to shut her mouth up and informed you that Kigaha" —he coughed the name as if it had a bad feeling in his mouth— "will be teaching you how to wield and use weapons properly. If you have any experience on such weapons, you may tell him and he will judge your proficiency in its usage. Oh, and one more thing."

She arched her eyebrow before slowly crossing her arms. He gulped. "You see, Kigaha is very...playful, I guess that would be a much decent term to describe him. It would be best if you control yourself."

"What?" she asked him like he suddenly spoke Greek to her.

"Try not to show how bashful you are. Knowing you, you'll turn red at the simplest of his malicious teasing. If you can, restrain yourself and try to ride along." Before she could protest, he added, "Ah, it would be great if you went to Zeniba's house tomorrow night. The old woman is requesting of your presence. That said, I can accompany you there, if you want."

It was no denying that Chihiro wanted to see Zeniba, but with Haku? Maybe it wouldn't hurt to have a dragon snoop in in their conversation. Besides, Chihiro really felt comfortable with him around, knowing a god was nearby ready to protect her. The thought made her heart flutter.

"Sure," she responded honestly before inching closer to him. "Also, is Kamaji still working in the boiler room? I'd like to see him if so."

He nodded. "He does, but it would be best not to disturb him at the moment. You can visit him in a few days, maybe after your session with Kigaha. Oh, and also, do you...wanna go for a picnic in the patio?"

"Right now?" she questioned. "Is it safe to? I mean the sun is already down."

He grinned at her. "It's just on the top floor, actually. Nobody goes there since spirits don't visit a bathhouse to hang around in a garden, don't you think?"

 _Is this a date?_ Chihiro thought as her mind suddenly went blank. "S-Sure, I really have nothing to do anyway other than count the fibers inside my pillow."

Haku let out a sincere laugh, finally standing to leave the room. "Great, then I'll get dressed and have the picnic equipment ready. You should too."

"Okay," she said, even though she was already dressed to begin with. "I'll meet you by the elevator then?"

He nodded before exiting the room.


	4. Chapter 4: In Which A Goddess Introduces an Ally

**CHIHIRO WAITED FOR** Haku by the elevator. She was nervous, never have been on a date with a man before. Sure, she had been in small picnics with some friends, but never has she been in one with only a boy. In fact, it would only be the two of them.

She dropped by Sadashi's room and asked if she could help, only to be teased. Sadashi was deep in her paperwork but managed to give Chihiro a small makeover. Then she kicked her out of her room again.

Chihiro wore a light pink kimono with flower prints decorated randomly on the fabric. An obi wrapped her lower torso, sealed by an obijime to ensure it won't fall. A peach-colored kanzashi sat on her neatly combed hair.

As she was about to go back inside the bathroom for the nth time to check on her look in the mirror, Haku appeared at the end of the hallway, dressed up in navy blue yukata and a black obi. "Oh, you're here early," he teased, pressing the button to activate the elevator. The doors opened almost immediately and they stepped in, the doors sealing the silence between them.

She felt his eyes studying her and glanced at him, only to confirm that her instincts were correct. "Hey, um, you look beautiful," he managed to say before turning his head away as if to mask his blushing.

The top floor of the bathhouse was just a huge garden full of green life. The sky hovered about them and it looked pretty close to them. As Haku put the picnic mat in place, Chihiro decided to look around. The plants looked very strange and familiar at the same time and she realized soon after that it could've been closely related to the plant species in the Human World. She looked back at Haku, who was now sitting down at the mat with his jade eyes staring at her.

She sat down on the mat, trying to sit up as straight as possible so she could still see the view of what was beyond the bathhouse. It was breathtaking.

"I knew you'd like it here," he said before grabbing some food from the basket. "I'm pretty sure we'd get hungry at some point." He took out some pastries and fruits, placing it on the mat.

She decided to lie down on the picnic mat as she stared at the sky above her. Thousands of stars twinkled down at her and it was such a magnificent sight. "I've never seen so many stars," she admitted. "In the Human World, it's so polluted that you could hardly ever see a hundred in a sitting. But here...it feels magical."

She heard him shuffle and when she darted her head towards him, he had lied down beside her, gazing at the heavenly sight. "First time I actually settled down to look at the sky at night," he blurted out as he smiled. "It's not very hard to believe that you couldn't see this in the Human World. Your race's carelessness led to my river's destruction after all."

Then he glanced at her and as if he sensed her uneasiness, he added, "But you're much different from all of them, Chihiro. Your heart is pure and I can feel your intentions are only to help us. It surprised me that in the No Face mishap, you remained far from greed. When everyone wanted gold, you wanted nothing of it. And I'm grateful that you didn't give up and abandon me. You bravely went to Zeniba despite her intimidating first appearance. It takes a lot of guts for that. Now I understand why the prophecy chose you."

There was a moment of silence between them before he spoke once again, this time in a lot more serious tone. "I wish I could tell you about the prophecy, but Ekisha wanted you to know it from her. That's why we'll be setting out on a quest to find her soon after you get into the basics of training. It'll take a long time, but it will be worth it in the end."

"When?" she asked, her voice cracking.

He stared at her for a short while, then heaved a sigh. "In two Spirit World months, I believe; one month would be possible though, depending on how much you've covered and how fast you've learned. That's why you'll have to do your best. Ask all the questions you need from him if you must."

"Sadashi told me that you were supposed to be the one to teach me, but you passed it on to Kigaha...."

"And there's a reason behind it. See, if I taught you, I would be hesitant to try and hurt you; your training would be much easier if I was your instructor, but it will lead much to your disadvantage."

"Why?"

"Hmm, I'll adapt it in a teacher-student setting. If your teacher becomes your friend and they see that you're suffering, do you think they'll treat you like their other students? They might, although inside they would want to make things easier for you. If these feelings get in the way, they'll be able to tweak things just to make your lessons easier for you, but in reality, you didn't really learn anything. The lessons were supposed to aid you, but they instead deprived you of it. Does that make sense?"

"It does," she admitted. "I'm not very comfortable with Kigaha, however. Basing that on your warning and how he acted in the meeting. The man's much like a clown."

Haku let out an amused laugh. "Oh, he is. That's how he copes with the harsh reality of this world. I quote, 'it makes him sane.' Honestly speaking, he's not half as bad as you think he is, so you really have nothing to be worried of. Speaking of which, I have something to give you."

He sat up and fished for something in the side pocket of his yukata. It was a maroon velvet box and for a moment, Chihiro thought he was going to give her an engagement ring. "I'd like you to wear this at all times, starting now. It's a necklace that is charmed to protect you. Being human, you're pretty much more prone to death than we are. So keep it close to you at all times and never, ever take it off of you. The chain is cast with an unbreakable spell, so don't get worried if it will snap or get lost."

She carefully opened the box, gasping when her eyes laid on the small emerald pendant placed delicately in the middle. When she removed the necklace from the box, the box crumbled into small pieces and was taken away by the air before vanishing. She looked at him worriedly, but he just nodded and gestured for her to put it on.

She handed him the necklace and turned her back against him, holding her hair into a bundle before lifting it to allow her neck to be exposed. He unclasped the lock and put the necklace on her. She shivered as she felt his breath against the skin of her neck.

"There. You can turn around now," he said quietly. Almost immediately, she spun around and looked down at herself, examining the pendant in her palm.

"It's beautiful," she said, smile wide as ever. "Thank you, Haku. Oh, and they look just like your eyes." She lifted her head, only to be surprised by how close his face was. He seemed to be leaning in towards her and at first, she seemed very reluctant as she knew what was going to happen, however, her body thought differently. All seemed to be going well until the bushes meters in front of her began to rustle, making both of them jump up in fright.

She went behind Haku, who had his arm out, an orb of light floating from his hand as the wind suddenly picked up speed. Peeking through his shoulder, she watched as two beings stepped outside the bush. The first was what appeared to be a two-month-old Siberian Husky with thick grey and white fur. It fell in front of Haku, yawning before it rubbed its head against his ankle.

"T-Tamotsu?" he asked, a little panic evident in his voice. "Then—" The dog yawned and sat down by his side, its tongue out as it panted.

A woman stepped out of the bush, brushing the leaves off of her red kimono. Chihiro found her beautiful and terrifying at the same time. Her eyes were pale pink which almost looked translucent in the moonlight and her lips were red and heart-shaped. She had long blonde hair that swayed against the wind. Her figure looked delicate and she walked gracefully towards them.

Haku and Tamotsu bowed at the sight of her, and Chihiro followed suit. The lady didn't say anything, only pulling them into a hug. "Oh Haku, it has been a long time. Why don't you reply to my letters? You never seem to have time for me!" Then she looked at Chihiro and smiled. "Human, I have been eager to meet you. Why don't we all sit down and have a chat, _hmm_?"

The lady snapped and a teapot appeared on the mat, along with three cups. By now, Tamotsu had found his way back to the lady, positioning itself beside her as she slowly sat. She seemed to be in a pleasant mood. Unfortunately, Haku didn't feel the same based on the bitter look on his face.

"I'm sorry to have intruded your little picnic, I really am. I hope you don't mind, however, when I say I need to talk to you," she said, her voice very serene and blissful. "Haku doesn't look very pleased to see me, unfortunately."

He glared at her, muttering something under his breath, although he didn't really protest outwardly. The lady chuckled, taking a sip of her tea before turning to Chihiro, who had her hands wrapped around Haku's arm, still frightened. "Where are my manners? I am Ichika, goddess of the cherry blossoms."

Chihiro stared at her in disbelief then looked at Haku and back at the goddess. "You're Haku's mother?"

"So you've been told," the goddess replied, smiling at the human's cleverness. "I don't want to tire myself explaining who I am, thus I am glad you recognized me. She looks much better in person, Haku. You see, he used to write to me about—"

"Mother, stop!" Haku exclaimed, his face grew into a light pink. Ichika rolled her eyes and laughed.

"I'm here to let you know that I fight with you when the war starts. That being said, I will provide Tamotsu" —she stretched her arm down at the dog— "as Chihiro's protector since I cannot vouch for myself to protect her at all times. Don't worry, he doesn't bite."

"But I'm here," Haku protested as he felt Chihiro's grip on his arm loosen. " _I_ am her protector. What does she need Tamotsu for? Are you spying on us or are you doubting me?"

The goddess didn't seem pleased as she placed her cheek on her palm, a frown now plastered on her face. "Do not be absurd, my child. Remember that Tamotsu works for _you_ as you found him almost drowning in your own river. Even if I threaten to kill him if he doesn't tell me what I want, he will not talk since his loyalty is on you."

Chihiro stared at Ichika, studying her face even more. If you really looked at her closely, she slightly resembled her son—the same gaze that would make you wanna melt, the sharp nose Haku had, and even the same intense glare.

The orb of magic in Haku's hand slowly disappeared, but he still had that hostile glower at his mother. "I didn't really need your help, mother, but if it is for my human's protection, then I am willing to accept it."

 _My human_. Those words echoed inside her head and she felt herself going insane. She tried not to focus on the sudden feeling that emerged from within her stomach but she really felt like there were thousands of tiny Chihiros running around inside her, screaming and panicking at the same time.

"Human," Ichika said austerely, her eyebrow shooting up in a questioning manner, "I can sense your fear. But I assure you with all my heart that there is no need to have such lowly feeling towards me. Think of me as your mother—"

"An annoying mother," Haku snapped, rolling his eyes.

"—in this world. Besides...." The lady began to smirk at her son, her eyebrows wiggling in a teasing manner. Haku scoffed at her and bit back whatever insult he was about to vomit on her face, in fear of being embarrassed; at least, that's what Chihiro thought.

She knew Haku was not mad about his mother; he only felt very intimidated by her presence because she acted like he was a child around him. Chihiro couldn't relate to that more, especially since her relatives would tease her in family gatherings. _He's so human,_ she thought as she felt herself smile.

Tamotsu went over and sat by Haku, whose expression softened but still had a hint of annoyance. Its nose caressed the dragon's ankle but it immediately stopped when he looked down at it. "From now on, you will serve Chihiro and she will be your master. Do not fail me, _inu,_ or I will punish you."

Tamotsu bowed and jumped at Chihiro before bowing much lower to her. Touched by the dog, she scooped it up its little feet and cradled it in her arms, staring at it with motherly affection. She caught Haku glance at her and as she was about to look at him, he turned his head away.

Ichika cleared her throat, making the dragon, the dog, and the human dart their heads towards her. She flashed them a small smile, her eyes sparkling. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other businesses to attend to. I'll see you again soon, I suppose." As she was about to turn around, she gave Haku a sad smile. "My son, come visit me sometimes, promise me." With that, she waved her hand and burst into hundreds of cherry blossom petals, letting the wind take her away.

Chihiro and Haku pretty much just stood there with mixed reactions—Haku being pissed about his mother's unwelcome visit while Chihiro thought of how wonderful Ichika was. Tamotsu yawned in her arms, his soft blue eyes slowly shutting. She giggled quietly before caressing its forehead.

"I'm sometimes ashamed of my own mother," Haku admitted as he sat back down into the picnic mat, patting the space beside him, inviting her to sit. "She's just too... caring for my liking."

She sat down and rested her head on his shoulder as she set the sleeping Tamotsu on her lap. "That's what mothers do," she reassured him. "It's her way of showing how much she cares about you."

His lower lip started to quiver. "I just don't understand why she didn't visit me when I was a lost spirit. When I worked for Yubaba as her apprentice, neither did she give me a sign of her existence. She could've set me free, yet she didn't. I just...."

She put her hand over his and squeezed it, closing her eyes to enjoy the cold breeze of the night. "Why don't you ask her, then? You'll never know her side of the story if you don't."

"It doesn't matter." He sat up and watched the moon with his glassy eyes. "Some questions are not meant to be answered." Their conversation ended there, anteceded by silence.

"I miss my parents," Chihiro spoke softly. "I hope they're doing alright."


	5. Chapter 5: In Which Women Converse Over a Warm Bath

**"HEY, CHIHIRO! WAIT!"** a voice echoed through the corridor as the elevator doors opened before Chihiro. She snapped her head towards the source and found that it was just Sadashi. She wore the same white bathing robe Chihiro was wearing and had her hair in a bun. "My, Chi, looks like you haven't much sleep."

Chihiro gave her a weak smile before stepping inside with her friend. "Oh, don't worry about me. You know how immune I am to having a few hours of sleep."

Sadashi crossed her arms. "It's not good for you, still. You'll catch a cold or some Spirit World sickness. You should be aware that humans are much more vulnerable here."

"Oh, I'm aware," the human sarcastically replied, groaning afterwards. As the elevator bell rang and they stepped out, she cursed under her breath. "I forgot to get my dog. He's sleeping with Haku."

"Eh? An _inu?_ What's it doing here? You don't need a dog to take a bath."

"Ichika gave me the dog so it will protect me." Before Sadashi could ask other questions, they heard a shout from one of the tubs. It came from no other than Lin, whose fashion was uniform to theirs.

"You bathing with those robes on...or do you prefer to go all out?" she teased, nudging Sadashi as they erupted in laughter. "Oh, Haku would _love_ that."

As they climbed into the bathtub, Chihiro went between Lin and Sadashi. For a while, they just sat in silence, eyes closed and enjoying the relaxing feel of hot water on their skin. The water smelled like what Chihiro could only assume as the herbal formula of the bathhouse. She remembered using it on an alleged stink spirit, who happened to be a water spirit. It made her smile.

Lin exhaled sharply before coughing. "I've never had a bath as relaxing as this," she purred as she put her head back against the lip of the bathtub. "Oh, work here in the bathhouse just never ceases. When you left here, Chihiro, this _darn_ bathhouse just started to get more and more popular. And Yubaba was so pleased with that, of course. So she put it to an advantage and made us work even more. Horrible this bathhouse can be. Haku has the easiest job among us all."

"Master Haku," Sadashi started as Chihiro gave them a questioning look, "does most of the paperwork and the inventory in the bathhouse, which is fairly easy in terms of physical strength needed to complete the job, but difficult in terms of using wits and strategies."

"Even I can do that," Lin snorted. "It's so easy! Have you tried scrubbing the big tub, Sads? It's _pure_ torture! Consider the pungent smell and the slimy texture of the water after a few customers have bathed in it."

"Well, that's gross."

"Oh honey, _gross_ is an understatement—it's beyond disgusting. Lucky you haven't experienced such. Truly a mortifying memory." Lin turned to Chihiro, who was very silent. " _Oi_ , I see you've got a new necklace. Who's it from? The dragon?"

Sadashi squinted at the necklace. "Oh hey, that's the necklace Master asked me to buy for him in Tokyo. So it is from...." She gasped then exchanged smirks with Lin.

" _Ooh_ , are you guys dating?" asked Lin.

" _Oh my god!_ " Sadashi exclaimed. "Yesterday, he asked her on a date. I bet there was some smooching!" The two girls giggled as Chihiro turned red.

"No!" the human defended. "Nothing of the sort!"

Sadashi groaned. "Did he compliment you, at least?"

"Yes," Chihiro answered reluctantly, causing the two girls too coo. "But I guess he was being polite."

" _Oh goodness_ , Chi," Lin sighed. "If you only knew how he is. He never compliments other people on their physical appearance. All he ever says is, 'Good job', 'Good work', and other work-related compliments. Heck, he didn't even bat an eye when he met the goddess of beauty. So I'm telling you, if he compliments you, it means he likes you. And I have a feeling you're smitten for him. That's true, right?"

Chihiro panicked, but since Sadashi already knew, it would be fair to let Lin know too. She nodded, making both her friends squeal with delight.

"What did he say to you yesterday anyway?" Sadashi asked before lowering the back of her head into the water to let it soak her hair. "You guys have been gone since seven and when I checked in your room by one, you still weren't there."

Chihiro lowered her head so she wouldn't see their faces. " _Erm,_ we had a picnic and he told me about the training and why he passed it on to Kigaha. Then he gave this necklace, which he said will protect me."

"The necklace itself probably doesn't have much power to it," Lin guessed. "It's not very easy to cast a protection spell on live beings as it is mostly done on objects such as a book, so I'm assuming part of him is inside that necklace so he can sense if you are in danger and he will immediately come to rescue you. Normal protection spells would eventually wear out in a few days anyway, so if he guaranteed your protection while you're in this realm, then my deduction is correct. Very clever of him yet very risky indeed."

"He gave a part of him... to me?" Chihiro suddenly felt as if a lump of coal was dislodged in her windpipe. She was very thankful that Haku gave her the necklace, but had she known that he was literally giving a part of himself to her, she wouldn't have accepted it.

" _Gee,_ that man must be super crazy about you to just do that without having second thoughts. But you're going to have to be careful, my dear."

"Careful of what?"

"Of him," Lin replied, holding out her hand in front of her to check her nails. "Dragons are stubborn and possessive creatures. If the possibility of him liking you really does exist, then you'll have to think twice about it. It's really your choice, though, but if I were you, I would not pursue things with him."

"I think that won't be necessary, Lin. Chihiro can still change him," Sadashi said with a soft smile as she looked at Chihiro. "Teach him about boundaries and personal space. I'm sure he'll change for you."

Chihiro coughed. "Why are you acting like there is something going on between us when there really isn't?"

Sadashi didn't seem to hear that. "So," she said, her voice a little louder than usual, "anything else that happened to your sweet little date, _hmm_?" She winked at Chihiro, who used all her energy in holding herself back from slapping her friend.

Chihiro tried to recall what had happened the night before. She decided to not mention that Haku almost kissed her, desiring to avoid the uncontrollable squealing and teasing it would summon. "His mother came and gave me a dog."

"Oh right, the dog you were mentioning earlier. What's its name? Akira? Nanako? Ritsuji?"

"Tamotsu."

Sadashi put her hand under her chin. "Tamotsu.... Oh, the rescue dog? I rarely see him because he's a very shy dog and only follows Master's orders. The last of Master's orders was, 'Leave me alone.' And the dog did. _Foolish dog._ "

"Haku is more of a cat person, in case you didn't know," Lin commented, jerking her head to the side. "When he looked around seven, he let a _neko_ inside the bathhouse and it caused quite much trouble like No Face did ten years ago. But I'm sure he has a soft spot for dogs too."

Sadashi let out a small laugh before saying, "He acts so much like a cat though!" Her expression then changed into a stern one. "But I really have no idea why Ichika would send a dog to Chihiro out of nowhere. That is _so_ out of character. If she wanted to send something to her, she would've sent forth her messenger. Having to deliver something herself is quite suspicious and alarming."

"So what do you think?" Chihiro asked nervously.

Sadashi sighed, resting her head on Chihiro's shoulder. "I think she was there to see if Master had made any move on you, being the protective mother she is. Poor boy, that's why he despises her showing up."

"Partly, maybe," Lin slightly agreed. "I'm thinking it had something to do with the plants in the garden. Do you know about those?" The two girls shook their heads. "The garden in the top floor houses a bunch of plants, but they're merely there for decoration. I heard that Yubaba and Zeniba planted them together when they were much younger so it would be their source of potion ingredients. These plants are from different places that are too far to be reached. And so they made a garden for easy access. Very stupid move, I'd say, that they put precious plants on the top floor of the building."

"How so?" Sadashi queried, inching closer towards Lin.

The other spirit chuckled. "The top floor is completely unprotected, thus it would be easy for intruders to steal parts of plants. There are a lot of spirits that can fly, so even if you place the garden in the rooftop, it'll be much easier for them to access and to break into undetected since there is rarely anyone on the top floor. I'd like to think that Yubaba casted protection spells on the bathhouse almost every day, but if Ichika and Tomatsu were able to get in, that would prove otherwise."

"Unless Ichika found out a way to tamper with magic," Sadashi suggested. "She is a goddess, after all, and Yubaba is a just a witch. I mean, Ichika is no sorceress, she's a healer right? But the idea that she could've asked for another powerful being's help isn't far-fetched at all."

"Then her being a goddess wouldn't even matter if she asked for help. Whatever it is, I'm definitely on Ichika stealing magic herbs. She's probably brewing a potion or a serum. Let's just hope her intentions are good."

Chihiro's mind went blank and she couldn't show how amazed she was with Lin and Sadashi's quick thinking. "Can you tell me the story of how Haku employed you?"

Sadashi raised an eyebrow. "Oh, well you see, years ago, I worked for Hideo, Master Haku's twin brother. If you paid attention to my story the other day, Hideo was—"

"Taken by Akumu from Ichika when he was born," Chihiro interrupted.

"Exactly. But he didn't really live with Akumu all the time. He had his own land and his own palace, ruling over part of the Underworld" —she immediately covered her mouth after saying that, and Chihiro instantly guessed that saying the word _Underworld_ must be avoided— "and judging if each soul deserved the Afterlife or not. I was once a human soul with spirit blood running in me. So, I tried to beg him to bring me back to life. At first, he refused, but soon, we came to a bargain: he would revive and make me into a spirit, but only if I served him for eternity.

"I'm not sure why I was stupid enough to accept the bargain, but yeah, I ended up working for two hundred years under him. All was well; he was kind and very humble, which was weird since he grew up with Akumu. I thought my bliss would last forever, but not until I realized I fell in love with him."

" _Boring_ ," Lin remarked flatly, rolling her eyes. "What a cliché."

Sadashi glared at her. "He just had something in him that made me so weak for him. I tried to hide it from him, but I just couldn't. And so I did something really, _really_ unnecessary. While we were on a mission, I... told him that I was in love with him."

"And what happened?" Chihiro asked, leaning forward towards Sadashi. The latter heaved a long sigh.

"He fired me, though he never reverted me back to a soul. The reason behind that still remains a mystery to me. Having nowhere else to go, I wandered around and fell into Zeniba's hands. And it was lovely being around her. I spun her spinning wheel and even baked cookies with her. That was until Master Haku visited some two years ago.

"I recognized him from Zeniba's stories and was in shock when I realized that Hideo's twin really did exist. Never had Hideo mentioned about having a twin, so it was a shoco to me. Haku really seemed much colder than Hideo, so that kind of made me annoyed at him at first. But I apparently begged to serve him. And he accepted it, telling me that his own master was cruel and he begged to differ."

Chihiro smiled at that, her heart feeling very light all of a sudden. Having to hear Haku being praised made her heart beat faster. She knew he always had the incentive to help anyone in need, just like how he ensured her safe return to the Human World ten years ago.

"He appointed me as your protector in the Human World and to never have you come back here in the Spirit World. That was until a month ago, when he met Ekisha, the seer. He was reluctant at first, but he finally convinced himself that you had to come here, even if you are much safer in the Human World. Part of the reason behind his sudden change of heart was the information of Akumu's spies crossing the border to hunt you down and bring you into the Under— I mean, Akumu's realm. So he really didn't have a choice but to protect you."

Chihiro's lower lip started to quiver. She wanted to ask so many questions, yet the words seemed to be stuck in the back of her throat.

"Did you have a name before Sadashi Tanaka?" Lin asked, making Sadashi shift in her spot uncomfortably. "I'm sorry for asking. You don't have to answer the question."

"It's alright," Sadashi admitted, biting her lower lip. "I had a couple of names, including the one from my human life, then the one I used under Hideo...which are Hatsune and Akasuki."

Chihiro suddenly brightened up and bit back a laugh. "Sorry. It's just...Hatsune is a very _popular_ name in the Human World." She couldn't hold it anymore and burst into a fit of laughter, and to this Sadashi grinned and Lin was left baffled. "And Sadashi is the one you chose to work under Haku?"

"Yes. Master said I could use any of my previous names, or stay as Akasuki, but I refused to live the past. So I named myself Sadashi, the 'Ambitious One.' And that's true, I'm quite ambitious, but I never really accomplished anything."

"Stop lying to yourself," Lin scowled. "You brought Chihiro back to this world safely and even served Haku with your loyalty and obedience, not having once complained. And you say that you have not accomplished anything? _Pah._ "

"If you feel like you haven't done anything useful," Chihiro added, "remember that we are still in war and I'm pretty sure you have a lot to prove." Sadashi nodded in agreement.

The rest of their time they remained silent and just relaxed. Chihiro was still deep in thought. A lot of questions itched her but all she could do was save them for another time. She glanced at Sadashi sympathetically as she wondered if her friend still thought about Hideo.

She could've. She knew Sadashi; she was bubbly, but sometimes she would just be in a trance. She could've thought about her past with Hideo and went through the _what-ifs._


	6. Chapter 6: In Which She Has Tea with an Old Friend

**BY THE TIME CHIHIRO** got back to the quarters, Haku was already dressed up and ready to go. As soon as she walked by his bedroom door, it threw open, making her jump in utter shock. He just looked at her deadpanned, his arms crossing in his chest. "And why didn't you tell me you had a small get-together with the ladies?" he asked in a tone that did not match the look on his face. "Do you know how worried I was when I entered your room and you weren't there?"

Chihiro tried to recall if she had given any hints of her hanging out with her friends last night. She didn't. Bowing her head, she replied, "I apologize. I must've forgotten to tell you that Lin, Sadashi, and I would be talking about stuff."

He arched an eyebrow, his expression finally softening. " _Tch_ , go along and get dressed. We don't have all day. Pack some clothes while you're at it, too. Swamp Bottom is quite far, and I don't want to tire myself out."

"Great! I'll hurry up then. Oh, uh, is Sadashi and Tamotsu coming?" When he shook his head, she decided to stop pestering him and get going with her packing.

She neatly shoved a few clothes, some bath essentials, toiletries, and a fresh pajama set into a tote bag folded in one of the drawers. She wanted to bring something to entertain her, but she remembered that the trip to Zeniba's wasn't a vacation; rather, they had a lot of things to discuss.

Tamotsu lay on her bed belly down, sleepily watching as his master packed her stuff. When she rubbed behind his ears, he yawned and made a soft amused growl from the back of his throat. "I'm sorry you won't be coming. Take care of the quarters though. I'll come back with some treats." The dog lifted its head slightly and let it fall again as if it had just nodded.

Chihiro grabbed a beige loose long-sleeved shirt and yellow shorts. She sighed in delight as she undid her bathrobe and let it slip on the floor before putting on her undergarments. There was a knock on a door and alarms started to go in her head. She started to panic when she heard Haku's voice saying, "What's taking so long? Do you need help?"

She almost screamed, mildly shaking as she looked around to find something to wrap around her. She decided to just grab the bathrobe again and clumsily wrapped it around her before replying, "Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Please don't come in, I'm changing."

"Alright," he replied in a polite tone. She exhaled sharply, relieved that he didn't barge into her room. She continued fixing herself up before grabbing her tote bag and kissing Tomatsu by the forehead.

She grabbed the doorknob and turned it, pulling the door open, only to be face to face with an annoyed dragon. He just stood there, half a meter away from her, muttering how ladies take too long to fix themselves up. She just giggled in response, walking ahead of him towards the elevator.

"Oh right, I gotta ask," she started as they descended down the elevator. "Why do you seem to hate Tamotsu? The poor boy could've come too."

Haku didn't respond as they made their way to a seemingly new part of the bathhouse. Most of the corridor was dimly lit, except for the few lights from some opened doors. Chihiro figured this must've been here for a long time now, however, she just hadn't bothered to pass through here. They made it to the end of the corridor, where Haku stopped and fished out a key from his pocket, using it to open the door in front of them. When the door opened, both of them squinted as they tried to adjust to the sudden brightness of the outside.

It was a shortcut to the back of the bathhouse. Chihiro could see the train station from the distance, seemingly empty. Grass swished her and there as both of them walked past it. Halfway through the grassland, Haku stopped and turned around to Chihiro, "Go ahead." And she did, walking past him with a determined look on her face. They reached the station after a few minutes and just in time since the train was already approaching them. A door stopped in front of them, opening as a few spirits stepped out, lugging a few pieces of baggage behind them. A conductor greeted them and asked for the tickets, which Haku politely handed over. Chihiro looked around.

The cabin they were in was almost empty, with unoccupied chairs in front of them. It still was the same train Chihiro rode on several years ago.

Haku cleared his throat after the train started to move. "I figured taking the train would be much better than flying all the way to Swamp Bottom. I didn't want to tire myself out completely and let my guard down. Also, just flying to longer distances would be a threat as Akumu might be able to detect our presence. Minimizing my flying to a one-way trip would lessen that probability. At least, on the train, even if he detects us, he wouldn't bother attacking us since the train is out of his domain."

"And what about the sky?" Chihiro asked quietly as she sank into her seat. "Last time I checked, he didn't control the sky."

"Yes, he didn't. You've got a point there. But remember that you've got a wide coverage of the sky. You can see a huge part of it without being directly below that certain part. We might pass close to his territory without knowing it and he will be able to see my dragon form from kilometers away."

As she was about to reply, he interrupted her with, "To answer your question a while ago, I completely trust Tamotsu and I am aware that he does not work for Ichika. However, I'm, _er,_ I don't-I'm not very fond of dogs. And it would kill my mood if he did have to come. Besides" -his eyes sparkled- "I'm here to protect you anyway, so what do you need him for?"

In reality, Chihiro thought that he was just jealous of having the dog. If Tomatsu was here, he would have Chihiro's undivided attention and she wouldn't interact with him as much as he wanted to. That possibility is slim, but if he really did have feelings for her, then that could be the truth. _Since when did you start assuming things, Chihiro?_

"We'll be there in around five hours, so you should nap first if you want," he said after she tried to hold back a yawn. "I'll wake you up when we're there." She didn't protest at all, her eyes closing instead. Slowly, she drifted into a dreamless state.

It had only felt like a few moments before she woke up on her own. The sun was sinking on the horizon, giving out a brilliant orange sunset. Her enthusiasm was cut short when trees blocked her view.

" _In ten minutes, we will arrive at our sixth stop, Swamp Bottom,_ " the speaker above her spoke up, surprising her. They didn't have a feature such as that before, so it bewildered her how the Spirit World had started to keep up with the Human World's technology.

She turned her head around to see that Haku was also sleeping. He peacefully leaned his head back into the chair, his lips slightly parted. Even in his sleep, he looked very handsome. Chihiro just stared for a while before deciding to wake up him. She shook his shoulder slightly, his eyebrows knitting close together as he groaned.

His eyes slowly opened and turned to Chihiro, who was still sitting there, looking at him intently. He sat back up and ran his fingers through his hair without meeting her gaze. "We're here?" he asked hoarsely before clearing his throat.

"Almost," she replied, watching him silently fix himself up. "Good thing I woke up before the station. Someone must've forgotten they were on patrol." But it really didn't bother her. Haku must have been very busy and restless lately. She couldn't really imagine just staying awake for five hours straight without anything to do or anyone to talk to.

He turned to her and held back a laugh. "Your hair looks like a nest. Let me fix it for you." Without warning, he moved closer and reached out to her. She felt his fingers run through her locks in a mission to straighten them. She just stared at his jade eyes, which tried to avoid her gaze but couldn't resist for long. He suddenly stopped raking her hair and his eyes landed on hers.

"There, you look much better," Haku announced quietly, a smile quickly forming on his lips. "You should always use the shampoo I provided. It has magic in it that immediately makes your hair flawless."

She giggled. "You should sell some of that in the Human World, I tell you. You'd make quite a fortune out of it."

He shot her a genuine smile before grabbing the bag beside him. Chihiro hadn't noticed him carrying it a little earlier, or maybe she did but didn't really put much thought to it. The conductor walked about the train, announcing that the train will soon stop at Swamp Bottom.

After a few minutes, the train was felt to be decelerating as the metal tracks started to screech. When it stopped, the doors opened and they stepped out. The doors closed when they weren't in the platform anymore and began to accelerate once more, its busy sound fading until only the sound of crickets chirping could be heard.

By now, the sky had turned dark and a few stars could be seen. Haku was fishing for something from his bag when he froze. Chihiro, who had been aware that he had stopped on his tracks, spun her head and heard a disappointed groan escape his lips. "What's the matter?" she asked softly.

"I think I left the bathhouse inventory behind," he muttered, absentmindedly rummaging through his bag. "I'm supposed to do some work while I'm here. Should I go back?"

Chihiro put a hand on his shoulder and shook her head. "No. I know it's very important since it's your job, but you can't just go back and forth and expect to have some energy left. I mean, it has happened before, but you look really, really worn out right now. Even if you do manage to get it, the trip will tire you out and you won't be able to do anything anyway." She grinned at him. "Besides, maybe this is an opportunity for you to rest."

He mumbled something under his breath, nodding his head a few times before continuing to walk. From the distance, they could see light bouncing up and down, which Chihiro figured was Zeniba's lamppost. When it was a few meters before them, it bowed very low that it almost looked like a circle. She and the dragon bowed back. Then it got up and led them to Zeniba's humble abode.

Zeniba was already standing in front of the door to greet them. No Face was peeping through the window, his head jerking to the side when they got closer. The old woman pulled them into a tight hug and Chihiro swore she felt her ribs about to crush. Haku grunted a little but gave the witch a forced smile.

"Oh, Chihiro! You've grown into a beautiful young lady," Zeniba said, caressing the girl's cheek with her thumb. She turned to Haku. "Don't expect compliments for you, I already gave it away a few years ago."

She led them inside and Chihiro figured that nothing had changed at all. It was still the same warm home she had been in 10 years ago.

They sat on the table, Chihiro beside Haku while Zeniba and No Face sat across them. No Face continued to knit as Zeniba started to ask questions. Chihiro told her about how Sadashi led her back into the Spirit World and that she realized that she had forgotten that it existed.

"That's true," Zeniba commented as she poured Haku's cup some tea. "That's how it works in the Spirit World. Humans forget whatever happened in this world. It helps keep peace and balance between the two worlds. And the moment you came close to the border, your purple hair tie-"

"I felt a breeze and it grew stronger as I crossed the border," Chihiro interrupted, staring at her own cup of tea. "So the bracelet my friends wove...its purpose is to seal my memories away so they can return once I get back to the Spirit World?" She pulled on the purple hair tie that was casually sitting on her wrist.

"Very clever, dear. I was worried that you would lose the hair tie, but it seems you have been careful with it."

"It gave me some weird feeling that I had to keep it close to me at all times."

Zeniba closed her eyes. "That's part of the magic." She opened her large eyes and looked at Haku, who was silently fidgetting with the sleeve of his black haori. "Haku, how have you been? Have you patched things up with my lady?"

He frowned and averted her gaze. "A little. I'm still not fond of her coming when I least expect her to. She's acting a little strange lately."

"How so?"

He didn't say anything for a while. "I wish I knew, but I could only feel it."

Zeniba must have sensed how reluctant he got, so she shifted the topic. "Have you planned your journey to Ekisha?"

Haku nodded. "We leave in a month or two, depending on how much Chihiro has learned. We don't know, though, how much of us could travel."

She shifted in her seat, making No Face jump a little in surprise. "Well, that would be for you to decide. It would great to bring many to ensure your safety, but you'll have to consider their wits and their strength."

He made a sound that could equal an agreement. He looked up from tea and stared at Zeniba, who was currently showing No Face the error he did in his knitting. "I hope you don't mind, Zeniba, but do you know where Ekisha is currently? I've already sent some of my servants to look for her but to no avail."

At first, Zeniba didn't pay attention to what he said, only focusing on No Face, but she finally looked at him with a very confused expression. "I don't, apparently. That woman changes her location quite so often to avoid everyone consulting their whole fate. You should know that, Haku."

Haku tried not to look defeated, pushing his lips in a tight line with his eyebrows scrunching together. "It is. Maybe you have an idea of how to find her? Some kind of device or magic spell that we could use to track her-"

"Write her a letter," urged the old woman. "Old fashioned, but that's what you can do. You know what I mean, Haku. If you have a month or two before you visit her, then now would be perfect timing."

"B-But it's risky! I don't want it to get into the wrong hands...."

"It won't if you don't doubt your magic," Zeniba advised as she got up from her seat and headed to the kitchen to scoop a fresh batch of cookies from the oven. "Introduce yourself and tell her to try and stay put so you can find her. Ask for her location obviously, then tell her how many will be coming. Be as detailed as possible, and if you may, have Chihiro write it."

Chihiro almost choked on her tea when she heard that. Although she was taking Creative Writing in college, she wasn't very confident in her skills just yet. There was still doubt and insecurity that loomed inside her and fed off her fear of failure. She bent down to cough, feeling Haku's light stroking against her back.

"Granny," she managed to say before giving in to another round of coughing, "I'm not...that good at...writing. My...persuasion isn't very convincing."

Zeniba tutted as she placed the cookies into a tray, inspecting the few burnt pieces. " _Poor cookies_ ," she muttered sadly before heaving a sigh. "You don't have to make it formal, my granddaughter. If you're worried about how good your letter is, then I suggest you think about it this way."

There was a long pause as Zeniba pulled a glass jug of milk and told it to set itself on the table. And it did, after floating midair and crashing into the tabletop, spilling some amount. The old woman cursed and turned her back against the kitchen countertop, focusing her eyes on Chihiro. "Your goal is to deliver a message that is understandable. Don't mind if it's going to convince someone; just focus on being able to tell the details. It doesn't matter if it's written like a haiku from a five-year-old. As long as the point gets across, that is fine."


	7. Chapter 7: In Which She Confesses

**"CHIHIRO."** **HAKU'S** **VOICE** was soft and gentle like the wind that she couldn't help but smile a little. "I believe you can do it. Sadashi told me how creative and talented you are at writing."

Her smile wavered into a frown. She didn't really want to talk about it more, so she decided to just thank him instead. He must have noticed the lack of luster in his eyes because he opened his mouth to speak, but Zeniba thought otherwise.

"How's the old hag in the bathhouse? Still spoiling my nephew with lavish gifts?" she chortled before taking her tapestry needles and knitting once again. "That witch just never learns, does she?"

Haku grimaced. "She's still the same old acquisitive ruler of the bathhouse, if not worse. Most of the workers complain to me every day about her abusive behavior."

"And does she know her former favorite employee is back?"

He nodded. "But I told her that Chihiro will not sign another contract for her. That doesn't really bother her since I could do anything to destroy her with a simple spell. She wouldn't stand a chance."

"And didn't she ask you to protect the bathhouse from the war?" Chihiro inquired.

"Of course. It's one of my duties and reasons why I'm still in the bathhouse."

Zeniba glanced at the clock right above the door and made a short tutting sound before getting up and picking up a nearby hamper. "No Face, it's time for laundry. Do help me outside, hmm?" Then she smiled at Haku and Chihiro, who was a little dumbfounded by her sudden movements. "I'll be right back. Just continue talking." With that, the old woman and No Face exited the house.   
Haku helped himself with one of the newly-baked cookies in front of him, chewing in silence while Chihiro rested her head on a propped up hand. She watched the hands of the clock move absentmindedly, letting her thoughts circle her mind.

"What are you thinking about?" Haku suddenly whispered into her ear, making her heart suddenly leap out of her chest, figuratively speaking.

She rolled her eyes and grunted. "I just...why didn't you quit your job at the bathhouse as you had promised 10 years ago? I'm really...worried about your state, honestly."

He finished his cookie before responding, "I don't think you remembered what I said. Before you crossed the grassland leading you to the border, I said that I'll quit my apprenticeship with Yubaba. And I did, didn't I? I'm no longer her apprentice." He gave her a long pause, gulping the milk from his glass. "For a couple of years, I wandered about, living at my mother's house at some point. Like I said before, we didn't talk much, but she still had mother vibe. I never really wanted to be treated like a child, so I decided to go to my river. It was like heaven there, reuniting with my dear body of water. Then I dreamt about the prophecy...the bad part of the prophecy. I knew exactly who it was describing, and that's when I decided to go back to the bathhouse to work once again."

Chihiro blinked. "Why?"

Haku fixed his eyes on the now empty glass. "A few reasons" —he gave her a brief glance— "most of which are because of _you_. One, the bathhouse is full of spirits, some of them are very powerful. If Akumu was to plan an attack, you'd very much stand a chance. Two, remember the agreement Yubaba and I made? It'll be much tiring to go back and forth two places just to keep an eye on you and the bathhouse. At least, if you're in there, I wouldn't have to waste my precious magic and energy on two things at once. And three, the bathhouse is the closest place, besides the abandoned theme park, of course, to the border of the Human and Spirit World. If things get ugly, you can at least run back to the Human World."

" _Hey_!" she said, pouting. "Those are all because of me! That makes me feel bad, though. I feel helpless."

He laughed but didn't say anything. Once again, there was silence between them. Chihiro was aching to keep the conversation going, though.

"H-Haku... _Um_...Do you mind if I tell you something you might kill me for?" He arched an eyebrow and beckoned for her to spill out what she was going to say.

She thought about confessing her feelings for him since she wanted to let go of them. She knew they would never be a thing, even in a thousand years. So before she could fall deeper for him, it would be nice to get the weight off of her chest. But did it really have to be now? Why couldn't it be later?

"You see, I-I... _um_...."

"You don't have to say it if you don't want to," he calmly suggested. "It doesn't look like you're ready to say it. Don't pressure yourself to say it, alright? I'm sure there's a time for that and —"

"I-I like you, Haku!" she blurted out. Suddenly, she felt as if her whole face was burning up. She watched as his eyes widened and his head turned to face her. "You don't really have to feel obligated to return my feelings or anything...I just wanted to let you know. If things becomes awkward between us, don't feel guilty or anything, it's honestly my fault anyway. I want to ask you something, though; please just acknowledge my feelings for you. That's all I ask."

As if that wasn't enough, she added, "Ever since I was 10, I've felt this way whenever I'm with you. I didn't know what it meant back then, so it really didn't bother me. But now...it just bothers me a lot and seems to eat me from the inside. I feel so...vulnerable."

He seemed to have been awestruck because, for a while, he was speechless. "Why does it make you vulnerable?" he questioned quietly, and for a moment, Chihiro thought she heard hurt in his voice. "You were honest with me, so I don't have a choice but to accept that."

" _A choice_?" she hissed, a bit afraid of her sudden reaction. She felt like his words had stung her like a bee. " _Ouch_ , Haku. That feels like you slapped me with the back of your hand. How crisp can your words be? You're probably laughing at me inside your big head of yours, huh? _Oh, Chihiro is such a gullible little girl_!"

He looked insulted. "That is _not_ what I meant! Do not take this the wrong way."

" _Shut up_!" she screamed, unable to control herself as she ended up sobbing. Haku watched at her in horror, trying to reach for her hand, but she swatted it away. "Shut up, shut up, shut up! What more do I have to hear? I probably made it awkward between us anyway. Just...forget I even confessed to you."

What he did next astounded her. He laughed at her, although it sounded more amused than it was insulting. She stifled her sobs, wiping the tears away from her eyes. "Why are you laughing?" she whispered as she felt her heart sink.

"Because you didn't even let me talk," was all he responded with before tucking her hair behind her ear. "It's funny how you were looking so embarrassed one minute, then you got mad, and now, you're upset. All those unnecessary emotions, yet you haven't even heard what I was going to say."

Chihiro felt slightly ashamed of her breakdown and tried to hide her face, but he told her to face him. And she did, only to be surprised with how close his face was to hers. She wanted to reach for the telephone so she could contact the ambulance, but she remembered that she wasn't in the same world where ambulances exist.

"Have you ever considered if the one you liked returned the same feelings for you?" he asked before pushing her hair back, cupping her cheek afterward. "Because I feel the same way, Chihiro. I like you, too."

They stared into each other's eyes before their lips crashed. Suddenly, everything became clear. Her arms quickly wove their way to his neck while his own arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer to him. The kiss they shared was so passionate and at the same time, very tender and careful. For the first time in her life, Chihiro felt complete.

They pulled away after what seemed like forever, breathless and panting like crazy. She closed her eyes as she felt his forehead touch hers and just cherished the moment. She let her breathing go back to normal before she could lift her head up, only to be confused by the expression in his face. "What's wrong?"

His face was head and he looked very bashful, his eyelids half-closed. "N-Nothing. It's just that...that wasn't supposed to happen. We can't be like _this_." He was about to get up but she was quick to pull him back down and hold him by the shoulders.

"What do you mean we can't be like this?" she asked, her voice very loud and sounded offended. "You didn't just kiss me only to get pushed aside or something. Tell me, what is happening?"

Haku looked into her eyes, his expression dropping into a remorseful one. "Humans and spirits can't be together romantically. We're of different worlds, so such a relationship is just...forbidden."

"Is it because I'm bound to die earlier than you and you're afraid to lose me? Is that it?"

He shook his head. "Partly. It's like a romance between a frog and an elephant. It's cursed. I wouldn't mind breaking the rules if I have to, but I'm only protecting you. If the gods knew about this, they wouldn't approve very easily. Just understand that, okay?"

Chihiro grabbed his hands and intertwined her fingers with his. Without looking up at him, she muttered something very, very stupid. "I don't care about my safety. I know, it's really selfish but...I want to be with you. And I don't care whatever rules I'll have to break. Even if I live for a very long time, life isn't as fulfilling as it is without you. I'll risk my life if I have to. Call me insane and whatever, but I just don't care anymore."

He pried his hand away from her and placed it on her shoulder. "Chihiro, I want to be with you too. But please think about it—"

"I'm mortal," Chihiro snapped. "I don't have time to think about it, Haku. It's now or never. Each minute is precious to me, in case you didn't know. So please, why can't we just ignore what everyone has to say?" She was on the verge of having another breakdown and she was trying hard not to.

He bit his lip and for a moment she noticed how reticent he looked. "You don't understand how grave it is." She gave him a more intense pout before sighing. "How about this? We think about these feelings we have for each other for a little more and try to contain it. Then in two weeks, we shall meet by the hearth and have a little talk. Sounds great?"

Chihiro thought that what he had just said was very insane. How on earth was she going to contain such feelings if she already knew he liked her? But I guess it was true—they really had to think about it. The decision was grave and they had to be aware of the consequences. She nodded once, to which he responded with a pat on his head.

"Um, Haku, how are you sure that Akumu will attack in two months?" she asked, desperately desiring to change the topic. "Why would an enemy give us a certain time to attack when they could completely put us in a disadvantage for attacking when we're not ready?"

Haku heaved a sigh as his eyes shot up to the ceiling. "Well, you see, before Akumu takes over both worlds, he first has to take an invincible form, which has many stages. The first stage is currently happening right now as we speak and it is the construction of a new body. His current body isn't good enough to withstand the second stage, which is ameliorating his abilities so it can adjust to the new body. The last stage is, of course, the step wherein he will be indomitable. I'm not sure about the details, but I'll make it clear after I get information from an insider. All of that will take place in three months, and one month has already passed. That leaves us with two more months to prepare. I just hope my calculations are correct, but in case things move too fast, we're going to have to prepare as soon as possible and treat every day as the day he attacks."

Zeniba and No Face returned minutes later and joined in the conversation. It was shifted to a much lighter topic, mostly about plant species that made Chihiro was surprisingly engrossed with but made Haku very bored that he started having his own conversation with No Face, who only responded with " _Uh_ " and " _Ah_." Zeniba was sharing her cooking recipes when Chihiro remembered that she had promised to return with treats for Tomatsu. The old woman gladly packed up a large amount of food for the dog.

Without noticing, the night sky had completely faded and the sun was already rising. Haku, who was sitting by the window peeling sacks of potatoes, gasped so loudly that No Face, who was passing by with a tray of cookie dough, jumped back in utter shock.

"Oh shit, sorry dude," the river god apologized, flashing the now pissed off spirit a timid smile. "I was just amazed by how time flies so fast when you're interested in peeling potatoes. Just why am I peeling potatoes?" 

After the dinner, which Chihiro almost said as breakfast but instantly remembered that spirits are nocturnal, Chihiro and Haku were readying to head back to the bathhouse. Haku, being the paranoid he is, asked for a safer route from Zeniba. "I'm just making sure I don't pass too close to Akumu's stupid territory," he had explained when the old woman teased him.

Finally, it was time. At eight in the morning, the four of them went outside and said their goodbyes. "Goodbye, Granny! Goodbye, No Face!" Chihiro exclaimed as she hugged Zeniba tightly before hugging No Face as well. Haku was quick to change into a dragon while she wasn't looking. He bowed at the old woman and the black hill of a spirit before growling at Chihiro to get on.

Before she hopped onto him, she first stepped back to admire his mint green mane and his white scaly body. Indeed, nothing has changed. The dragon roared, indicating his growing impatience. She sat on his back, holding the horns as they flew into the now clear blue sky.


	8. Chapter 8: In Which She Starts Training

**CHIHIRO BARELY HAD ENOUGH** sleep before her training. She knew she was screwed the moment she bumped her shin against the edge of the bathtub when she was bathing a few hours ago. Although the pain had completely subsided after a few minutes, she couldn't help but worry if the spot would start to bruise.

It was three in the afternoon. At four, she would have to meet Kigaha in the rooftop garden to commence her training. It kind of scared her since she had watched movies of samurais fighting on tv a lot. But she knew almost everything on tv was almost exaggerated and that made her calm down a little.

She decided to drop by Haku's room, but he did not answer when she knocked on the door. She figured he could have been asleep, although that was immediately debunked when she entered the meeting room to eat breakfast. He sat on the head of the table, his back on her. She caught him glance at her when she stepped inside, causing the floorboards to creak underneath her.

Quickly, she sat down on her everyday seat, but was shy enough to start eating. She saw that he himself did not have anything before him, so the only reason he could be here was because he had to talk to her.

"What is it?" Chihiro asked in an almost hushed out tone. She put her hands on her lap, fidgeting with her pajamas.

Haku shifted in his seat. From what she can see, he wore a white kariginu with what seemed to be a black kimino underneath—similar to what he had worn when they first met years ago. Chihiro noticed for the first time that he did not have brown hair and instead had dark green hair.

"I'm going to my home by my river for around a week or so," was what came out of his mouth when he broke the long uncomfortable pause. "If there wasn't a war going on, I would've taken you. But alas, it is too dangerous for you. Besides" —he shot her a much milder gaze— "you still have some training to do. That is much more important."

Chihiro nodded before lifting her chin up carefully to meet his gaze. "I see. Then you'll have to bring me there some other time."

"I hope, but you know that you will return once the war is over. But I'll allow you to spend a day or two before your departure. That should motivate you to work hard." He took her hand in his and gently stroked the back of her hand with his thumb. "Don't miss me too much."

She smirked at him. "Oh, I thought this wasn't part of what we talked about, huh?"

Haku moved his seat closer to her. "I said that we'll think about dating, but I didn't say I would stop myself from showing my feelings, darling."

"Flirting game is weak, dragon," Chihiro snorted before withdrawing her hand from his, smiling as she received a disappointed groan. "I remember exactly what you said. I quote" —she leaned closer to him—"'try to contain our feelings.' Now, should I go over the other stuff you mentioned?"

He pretended to look defeated, dramatically placing the back of his hand on his temple and looking so forlorn. "Oh, you've got me. Now I must leave this place, never to return." He got up from his seat and walked towards the door. "See you in a week then." As he was about to slide open the paper screen, she stood up and walked up to him, making him freeze in his spot.

With one swift movement, she pried the hair covering his face away and planted a soft kiss on his lips before turning around to conceal the blush that was now on her cheeks. "See you in a week." 

When she heard the paper screen slide shut, she walked back to her spot and started to eat her bowl of ramen. After that, she took a shower and changed into a gray tunic.

▂▂▂▂▂▂

Chihiro went up to the garden in the top floor ten minutes before four in the afternoon. She found Kigaha polishing a katana with a gray hilt. He had a black haori over his white yukata and a black belt that she assumed held his katana when sheathed.

He noticed that she was approaching and so he set the katana and the cloth he was cleaning it with aside and stood up to bow. She returned the bow, although it was much lower.

"Kigaha-sensei," she acknowledged him with a weak smile. "Please be gentle with me."

Kigaha gave her a light-hearted laugh. "No need for formalities. We are all comrades in this house. Please though, do not feel pressured." He hled the katana in one hand and took out a dagger in another. "You know what this is, right? Humans have a great interest in these swords."

Chihiro examined the dagger Kigaha held in his right hand. It was very short although very sharp. "The sword you're holding is a katana, and the other one is a dagger."

"Right you are. The dagger is called a tanto, however. It's generally used for stabbing, but you can use the edge for slashing too. Usually, you would bring one or two katanas in battle. But to be safe, Haku told me to train you in using a tanto as well. It's better if we start with the katana though."

He handed her the katana, which Chihiro was reluctant to receive at first. In her hand, it was heavy due to its metal material, but it wasn't impossible to swing it around. She tried swinging it but it only hurt her arm.

Kigaha held his hand out and she gave it back to him. "That's one way to hold it, however, you'd tire yourself out more quickly with that technique. I'll teach you the proper stance first, then we can continue with the hilt-holding."

For the next hour, he taught her basic stances and movements without a katana. Chihiro was quick to learn, but very clumsy in movement, which made her slip and fall here and there. Kigaha didn't seem to mind however.

"Now, I shall teach you the parts of a sword, specifically, the katana," Kigaha announced, rubbing the sweat off his forehead. He pressed two fingers on the flat of the sword. "This is the blade. Common sense. There are other parts of the blade however. There is a single edge" —he pointed at the sharpened edge of the katana— "and the tip, the farthest point of the blade away from the hilt."

He proceeded to explain the other parts and Chihiro made sure she was listening the entire time. Once he was done, he had her hold the katana again. "You hold a katana with two hands—one on the top near the guard, and the other one on the bottom. That way, you have much more control over the sword than having two hands in one place. Are you right-handed?"

She nodded as he approached her side. He moved her left hand to the bottom of the hilt, while her right hand was placed under the guard. "There you go. I'll teach you some moves," he said in a proud tone.

The training went on for another hour before Kigaha called the session to an end. "You're very flexible," he commented. "I can see that learning sword strikes and blocks wouldn't be very hard for you. In a month, I assume you've already had enough to learn."

This seemed to ease Chihiro's worried state. "Will you teach me some karate moves too?" she queried, to which he just let out a genuine laugh. "I mean, what if my sword gets knocked out of my hands and I forgot to bring a tanto?"

"Sure, but I don't see why you'd need that when Haku is going to teach you some magic tricks."

"Ah, I see," she replied before taking a seat beside him as he wiped the tanto. "Humans are capable of sorcery?"

He nodded. "Quite. You see, when the two worlds were one, some of the greatest and most powerful sorcerers were human. I could name a few, but it would be a shame if I excluded some. In case you didn't know, there are a lot of types of sorcerers. Seers like Ekisha are one of them since they use magic to forsee the future. Then there are those who are healers, such as Ichika herself. Yubaba, Haku, and Zeniba, on the other hand, practice different types of magic, such as defensive, offensive, and healing magic. Oh, you'll learn all that when Haku teaches you."

Chihiro nodded. She was delighted to hear that Haku would be giving her lessons on how to use magic, although it bummed her out to have to learn a lot of things in a short span of one month. A sudden thought raced through her mind, which she decided to bring up with Kigaha.

"Um, Kigaha?"

"Yes?" he replied, absentmindedly polishing his katana.

She gulped. "This isn't training related but I think you're the only one I can think of who can hear me out at the moment. Um...you see...." She trailed off when she caught him looking at her with inquisitiveness.

"Go on," he urged.

"There's this boy that I've confessed to. I know, dumb move. It turns out that he likes me too, but he said it's forbidden for us to be together."

"Oh come on, Chihiro. Stop being so anonymous. I know that's Haku." She immediately turned red and he laughed at her. "See? That dragon also went to me earlier and asked what he should do."

Chihiro gave him a nervous laugh. "May I know what he said?"

"A lot of things. Oh and he did say something like, 'Chihiro likes me too but I don't know if I'm going to be a good boyfriend when we become official.' You should have seen the guy, he was pacing back and forth inside his room compulsively. But I must say, he trying to hold himself back, that's why he gave yourselves two weeks to think about it." He leaned closer to Chihiro before whispering, "His one-week leave from the bathhouse could be so he would be able to make a discussion and consult his beloved river on it."

"Oh," was all she said.

He nodded. "Yes, it is a very, very big decision as you see. Dating isn't as normal as you humans do back in the Human World. It's even more complex because you're a human and he's a god. Not that you need any approval of some sort, but by being in a relationship, you have a slight possibility of not being able to get back to the human world."

"Why?"

Kigaha gave her a sly look on his face. "Why? When you start dating, do you really want to leave your partner in a different world? Remember, communicating between the two worlds is impossible."

"I can go back and forth," Chihiro insisted before he put a finger in front of her lips.

"You'll get sick if you do that," he asserted. "Don't tell me you've never felt at least faint when you arrived here."

Chihiro thought about it for a moment. She remembered feeling very weak when she first arrived in the bathhouse ten years ago, however, in her recent return, she did not feel anything. She told Kigaha just that, to which he nodded.

"I see." He crossed his arms. "Haku must've been quick this time. Did Sadashi happen to give you a small vial to drink?"

She blinked. "I—Yeah. I also remember Haku feeding me some onigiri that he cast with magic to strengthen me. Was that what prevented me from suffering some condition?"

Kigaha smiled to her cleverness. "Indeed. It is true that it can prevent you from getting that sickness. I'm not quite certain yet as to what the sickness you humans get when you enter the Spirit World does exactly, but what I do know is that it's the effect of the difference in timezones between the two worlds. You've been informed about that, I assume?"

"Like a jet lag?" she asked, although she immediately remembered that the Spirit world did not have jets. "It's the fatigue that humans get when they travel for a very long time, especially in planes."

"I see. A human's body isn't as powerful—excuse my language—as spirits' so they can't handle changes in time. That's why you have to take the medicine. However, it has some unpleasant side effects." He crossed his leg. "Sure, the medicine alleviates the symptoms and frees you from such sickness, but when taken regularly, it starts to decrease in effectivity until it doesn't work at all. And mind you, the sickness is fatal."

Chihiro felt like she had swallowed a rock. "That's similar to these antibiotics we have in the Human World that kill bacteria. The bacteria can evolve and that's why it's recommended that we don't take one unless it's super important."

"Interesting. Do tell me more about your human ways the next time we have time to talk."

Chihiro noticed that he was about to get up and so she decided to ask on more question. "Sadashi mentioned doing a cleansing ritual, I think, when we arrived here. What's that about?"

"I hope you do not get offended, but the Human World is very... polluted and so she needs to do a cleansing ritual to remove the impurities in her body and soul. It's an intricate process. You can ask Sadashi to take you to a cleansing ritual if you want, or have her explain it."

They walked back to the elevator together, talking more about what Chihiro's life was back in the Human World. She realized that Haku was right—Kigaha wasn't half as bad as she thought.

There were jokes thrown during the conversation, and it was the first time she had felt very comfortable with someone of the opposite gender. Her dad was, of course, a different scenario and Haku definitely made her heart lurch all the time so that didn't exactly put her in this level of comfort. Kigaha just gave the vibe of what it really meant to be in a platonic relationship.

As they got back to the quarters, Kigaha and Chihiro parted ways, but not without a hug. "You take a shower," he said jokingly, resulting in an instant pain on his arm. "Aw, don't slap me! I'm being honest."

She just rolled her eyes. "Good night, Kigaha."

"Good night, _Haku._ " And he got another slap, this time on the back.


	9. Chapter 9: In Which the Dog Starts Talking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a/n: Hello! I'm very sorry for the late update. But here it is :)

**AT THE SEVENTH DAY OF** training with Kigaha, Chihiro had mastered some techniques in swordfighting, such as certain attacks and blocks. Kigaha was very surprised and made sure to compliment her.

While they were practicing blocks and attacks, Chihiro caught some green eyes looking at her in her peripheral vision. It must've been Haku. She suddenly felt a boost in energy and her excitement heightened because she was being watched by him.

"You're a natural," he commented while they were on break. "At this rate, in a week, we can already tackle using the tanto."

When the session ended, Chihiro dismissed herself first and rushed back to the quarters. She took a quick shower afterwards and did more reading. She had already finished _Magic For Morons,_ the title of which she was very offended of, and _What Not To Do in the Spirit World._ She could admit that it was incredibly boring without anyone to talk to or anyone to tease with.

She touched the necklace Haku gave her. Her lips curved into a smile when she remembered what had happened between them in Zeniba's house. Honestly speaking, she really wanted him to be her first boyfriend. But of course, just like what Kigaha had mentioned earlier, she had to decide.

If she chose Haku, she might never be able to go back into the Human World. That would make her parents sad, but surely, they will understand. And if she chose her parents, then Haku would be heartbroken. Whatever choice she had, she'd be breaking hearts anyway.

 _Choose whatever makes you happy,_ her mother's voice rang in her head. Chihiro sank back into her bed, caressing Tomatsu's head as he snuggled up into her side. "I'm so selfish, Tomatsu. I have to choose between Haku and my parents. But you know who's more selfish? Life. It can't even make things right."

Tomatsu looked at her with his large eyes before sighing. She took him in her arms and cradled him. "If only you can talk, Tomatsu, you'd tell me who to choose."

" _Eh, not really_ ," said a high pitched voice that came from no other than the dog, who now had one paw up against her cheek. "It's still up to you, Master, who you will choose. Follow your heart's desire."

Chihiro almost let go of her dog but didn't for the fear that she could throw him across the wrong. But she didn't stop herself from becoming pale and widening her eyes. "Y-You can talk! _Oh my god,_ just how—?"

Tomatsu yawned. "I do, but I rarely speak when I am in my _inu_ form."

"Well then, I command you to speak and keep me company."

There was silence between the two of them as Chihiro thought of questions to throw at Tomatsu. "Do you have another form, then?"

"I do, Master. Would you like to see?" she nodded.

From a dog with thick gray and white fur, Tamotsu slowly morphed into a human being. He had pale skin all throughout and had neatly trimmed short gray hair. He also had light blue eyes that seemed to go invisible when the light was cast upon it. The only thing was he appeared to be a five-year-old in this form. _Good,_ she told herself. _I would've been very uncomfortable with a mature man._

Tamotsu bowed at his master, who was still staring at him. "This is my human form. Would you like me to revert back to an _inu_ , Master Chihiro?"

She shook her head with a weak smile. "Maybe later. Also, could you call me Chihiro instead of 'Master'?"

"Master Haku will get mad if he finds out that I am not addressing you as my superior," he said gloomily. "You may change how I address you to a less intimidating one, I suppose."

Chihiro thought long and hard for another name. Miss? Milady? Madam? She heaved a frustrated sigh. Then something popped in her head. "Oh, I know! Since you are a dog, I'm your human and basically your 'mother'. But I prefer to be a sister figure to you. Call me _Onee-chan._ "

Tamotsu grinned and for some reason, started to cry. The smile on her face immediately faded into a surprised look. "I'm sorry, Onee-chan," he said between sobs. "It's just...I've never had a family before. I've lived in the wild for so long, alone and without shelter." She moved forward and scooped the boy in her arms, pulling him in for a hug.

She stroked his hair delicately, calming him down. "You know," she whispered, "you don't have to always be a dog. You have the freedom to change your appearance."

"But Onee-chan, how am I supposed to protect you in times of danger? I'm also not portable this way." When he said _portable,_ Chihiro erupted into a fit of laughter, making him smile a little.

"What are you trying to be, a basket?" she giggled, stroking his hair once more. "I'm not in danger in the bathhouse, my dear. Besides, it would be nice to have a brother for once."

Tamotsu wiped his tears. "You don't have siblings, Onee-chan?" She shook her head abruptly. "Me too. When I was born, my whole pack left me. I basically spent my time alone. That was until Master Haku saved me."

"I'd like to hear about that," Chihiro chimed in. "That is if you don't mind?"

He shook his head. "Not at all, Mas— Onee-chan." He put himself next to her so his weight would not make her leg numb. "I was hunting for fish by the Kohaku river one day. Oh, let me tell you just how pure the water was in his river! If you put your palm in it, you could clearly see the lines etched in it. And so, I was hunting down a fish—"

"Dogs eat fish?" She waved her hand. "Go on."

"—and it was quite a naughty fish indeed. Yes, I just used naughty to describe a creature with a small brain. Anyway, long story short, I fell into the river and before I knew it, I was back onshore. Master Haku stood beside me the whole time, nursing me back to health."

Chihiro giggled. "I guess we're on the same page. When I was little, I also fell into his river and was saved by him too. Maybe we really are siblings." This made Tamotsu grin. "Why did you end up with Ichika, though?"

He shrugged. "At that time, Master Haku lived with Lady Ichika and Lord Fujiroshi. He left me there, I think when he was looking for the bathhouse. Obviously, I couldn't tag along with him at the time since I was sick."

"Spirits get sick?"

He nodded. "But it is a rare occurrence and most of the time, it would be grave. My fever was very high and I was bedridden for weeks. The lady was quite lovely to be with. I sometimes look up to her as my mother."

Chihiro leaned back against a pillow. "Was she horrible?"

"Not once," Tamotsu replied frankly. "The only reason why Master Haku is uncomfortable around her is that she acts too much like a mother around him, ordering him around to clean his room every day and wash the dishes without using magic. I guess you can say Master is very lazy and likes to get things done using magic, which is one reason he uses magic for."

"I see." Chihiro grew a little anxious. If she was to marry Haku, she already knew what lay ahead. She, the neat freak, would have frequent fights with him on his messy behavior. _What the hell, Chihiro?_ she scolded herself. _Why are you thinking about that like you're gonna marry him anyway?_

"Onee-chan," Tamotsu called out to her, snapping her from her thoughts, "if it's not too discourteous to ask, how did you fall in love with Master Haku?"

That threw her off guard, making her sit up so hastily that she almost went blind. " _In love?_ Jeez, Tamotsu, I'm not in love with Haku! I just...." He smirked at her. "I took an interest in him. _Slightly._ Like 0.02%!"

He pouted. "I know you're lying, Onee-chan. I've been observing you for a while now and your face seems to flare up and your lips smile whenever I mention him."

Chihiro stared at him, horrified by what he had said. Was it really that obvious? "Fine," she admitted. "I may have developed romantic feelings for him."

Tamotsu did a little victory dance which she found very adorable. "You have no idea, Onee-chan, how he often tells me how gorgeous you are and how he just wants to wake up with you beside him. He's super in love."

"Shut up," she murmured, turning red. "I already know that anyway. We confessed his feelings when we were in Zeniba's home. But...."

"But?"

She sighed. "But I'm not sure if we should start going out. I have to choose between him and my world. Even if I choose my world, it wouldn't be the same without him. And if I choose him, what about my parents and my current life? Will it all go down the drain? _Years of academy training wasted_."

Tomatsu shook his head. "Onee-chan, I want you to choose happiness. You know what you really want and I can feel that. You want to be with him. And so accept that. Do you really think you could live without him?"

Chihiro opened her mouth to say something, but nothing went out. He was right. Even if she did live in the Human World, she won't be happy. She'll only live with regret and pain forever. If she does manage to find a husband, would she truly be contented with her life?

"I do want to be with him," she finally admitted, resulting in Tomatsu grinning once again. "I'm just thinking that when the time comes and I'll pass on, what will be of him?"

"That is for him to decide, Onee-chan. For certain, he will regret not pursuing things with you for the rest of his life for sure. Would you rather break his heart and leave him empty and cold?"

"Good point. Say, Tamotsu, what is Haku really like?"

Tamotsu pursed his lips. "Master Haku is a lot of things. He may be arrogant, stubborn, egocentric, and cheeky at times, but when you get to know him, he's actually good-hearted, selfless, and caring. Although he's really moody at times, I really don't mind because I know that deep down, he is a lot of good things."

Just hearing that made Chihiro smile. She reached for her nightstand and pulled something out of her drawer. When Tamotsu saw what it was, he looked very perplexed. "What is that?" he queried.

She first turned it on, making him jump back in the bed in surprise. "It's called a cellphone," she introduced, laughing softly at his disconcerted state. "Humans use to communicate with each other, but it has many more functions than just that, I tell you. It would take forever to explain everything." She put it in his hand so he could take a look.

He fidgeted with buttons and accidentally pressed the power button, panicking when the screen went black. "Onee-chan, I'm sorry! I destroyed it!" He bowed down, shaking as he cried.

Chihiro just pats his head. "No, you didn't. You just turned it off, see?" She reached out for her phone and pressed the power button, the screen lighting up once again. "There's one thing I'd show you then."

She typed in her password and went to the camera app. He gasped before her as a reflection of him appeared. "It's a mirror! How does it work? Wow, that's insane!" he exclaimed as he tested out if his reflection could mimic his actions.

"As I said, it's going to take very long to explain things to you. But it's called a camera. It captures whatever is in its sight when you pressed this button." She pressed the capture button and with a soft shutter sound, it took Tamotsu's confused face. "Then it saves itself in the phone."

"Whoa! How come you don't use it, Onee-chan?"

She sighed. "Unfortunately, I don't find any use for the phone in this world since I need a signal from the cell tower in the Human World, which I shall not explain." She took the phone from his hands and shoved it back inside the drawer.

"What's the Human World like, Onee-chan?" Tamotsu asked as he put his head on one of her pillows. "Is it green and clean like this world too?"

Chihiro suddenly felt sorry for Tamotsu. He definitely knew nothing about the Human World based on how innocent his questions were. Before she could even reply, a knock on the door immediately took away her urge to do so.

"Chihiro," Sadashi spoke from the other side of the door. "I have bad news and good news for you." The knob turned and she slipped her head in the crack of the door. She opened the door much wider and revealed Kigaha, who had a grim expression in his eyes.

"What is it?" Chihiro asked as she scrunched her eyebrows.

Kigaha and Sadashi exchanged sad looks. He stepped forward and said, "Well, we've been tracking Ekisha for a while now. That's basically what we've been looking into, although it was Sadashi's mostly—"

"Get to the point," Sadashi grumbled.

Chihiro met Kigaha's eyes and for a moment, she didn't know if she would be delighted or not.

"She's in the Human World. As to why, we have no answers," he continued flatly. "So we're going to have to leave for the Human World tomorrow morning. There will be a meeting later and will be headed by Kohaku. Get packing right now."


	10. Chapter 10: In Which She Goes Back to the Beginning

**IF CHIHIRO WAS GOING TO BE** honest, she didn't really need to pack for their return to the Human World. All she needed was her cellphone, her wallet, and her keys — the three things she had when she and Sadashi arrived in this world.

Once again, they were gathered by the meeting room. The first to arrive after Chihiro and Tamotsu was Haku, who looked delighted to see her. Lin, Sadashi, and Kigaha entered the room ten minutes later, deep into an argument on whether mashed potato or baked potato was better.

"We are gathered here today," Haku announced after clearing his throat to dismiss the arguing trio, "since we are to travel to the Human World to find Ekisha. Sadashi, please provide us more on how you discovered this information."

Sadashi straightened her back. "I sent Lady Ekisha a letter a few days ago, and her reply indicated that she is currently hiding in Budapest, which is in the Human World. From what, I have no insight. I had a local spirit verify if it was really from her, and he indeed said it was. The seal is of the very same, even the scent."

"How long will we be staying in the Human World?" Chihiro asked.

Haku jerked his head to the side. "Honestly, we should keep our stay to a minimum. Let's keep in mind that a week in the Spirit World is equivalent to a day in the Human World. If we spend a week in the Human World, well, then when we get back, Akumu might have been already done with his transformation. That's why we'll have to speed things up in the Human World, which I already did, by the way."

Lin turned to Haku. "Is that the reason why you left for a week? Did you bargain with the Gate Keeper?"

Chihiro blinked. "Who's the Gate Keeper?"

"He's the spirit that keeps the balance between the two worlds. To be able to bend time, you must do him a favor, which is what in your case, Haku?"

Haku's expression went serious. "I was tasked to bring him a magical plant from a faraway land. With the completion of that quest, he bent time momentarily. Therefore, three Spirit World days will be equivalent to one Human World day for eight days."

"So you didn't attend to matters in your river?" Chihiro asked, her voice sounding a little hurt.

"I did for two days, and the rest of the week I did the quest for the Gate Keeper," he admitted, flashing her a guilty smile. "It was really my intention to relax and attend to matters in my river, but when Sadashi sent me a letter about the news regarding Ekisha's whereabouts, I instantly knew I had to visit the Gate Keeper."

Kigaha cleared his throat. "Basically, if we spend 8 days in the Human World, we'll be gone for almost a month here, which isn't bad if I'll be honest. So, who will go to the Human World?"

Haku pointed at Lin. "Lin can't leave since she's bound to the Bathhouse by contract. I already informed Yubaba that we're leaving, so for now, Mom will be doing the paperwork and inventory in the Bathhouse for me."

"He called Ichika his mother!" Lin teased, making him turn crimson. "That means Kigaha, Sadashi, and Tamotsu will go with Chihiro and Haku. Leave in the morning so not a single spirit would follow you."

Sadashi placed a notepad on the table. "I've listed down everything we need. Chihiro, do you have a passport already?" Chihiro shook her head. "Alright, then we'll have to make fake passports with magic then. The only thing we need to do now is to create fake identities."

Kigaha whispered something in Sadashi's ear and stifled a laugh. Sadashi pursed her lips. They both stared Chihiro then at Haku before looking at Tamotsu. "Mind being a family?" Sadashi offered before smirking. Chihiro and Haku exchanged looks, but both of them nodded.

"Great," Sadashi continued. "Okay so, is Chihiro and Haku Watanabe alright? As for Tamotsu, what name would you like?"

Tamotsu glanced shyly at Chihiro, who gave him a nodded. "Mitsui," he whispered, which Sadashi surprisingly heard.

"Alright, Mitsui Watanabe. You're going to be Chihiro and Haku's child, alright?"

Chihiro, who was previously drinking her tea, choked and started coughing. Haku only smirked, however. She glared at Sadashi, but deep inside, she really didn't mind.

Sadashi turned to Kigaha, who was laughing at how flustered Haku and Chihiro were. "And you, I'd like to name you Nagisa Shiota." She met Chihiro's gaze and both of them started laughing, puzzling Kigaha. "I'll explain it to you when we get in the Human World."

Lin coughed. "Alright, what else is on your to-do list, Sads?"

"Well, we have to book a flight from Tokyo to Budapest and back. Accommodation in Budapest too. Also, Chihiro, do you mind if we stay at your house for the night? Based on my calculations, if we leave in the morning, it'll be twelve midnight when we get there. Surely, we'll have to book a bullet train going to Tokyo in the morning."

"No problem," Chihiro replied. "Will we pass by my parents on the way to the airport?"

Sadashi shook her head. "No, sorry. They're in Sapporo right now. It's a countermeasure for Ichika's descendants to change locations as much as possible. I think they'll be there for a while." Tamotsu stroked Chihiro's back affectionately to calm his master down.

Chihiro leaned against the back of her chair. "How come we can't just magically transport ourselves to Budapest if we're on a time crunch?"

Haku turned to her. "Magic is limited in the Human World. All we could use are potions. That's why we can't leave at this very moment and we have to wait for a while so I could create enough for our trip. Other than that, we're basically powerless." He looked at Sadashi. "Have Hiroto book everything we need once we get to the Human World. He's willing to sponsor everything."

Sadashi got up and bowed at him. "I shall create the passports right now, Master. Please excuse me." He nodded and she exited the room.

Without looking at Chihiro, he said, "I'll be creating potions right now. Care to join me?"

▂▂▂▂▂▂

"Whoa," Chihiro muttered as the two of them entered Haku's laboratory. It looked almost like a typical school laboratory, only less modern. "This is cool."

Haku seemed to be amused. "Glad you like it. Take a seat by the table in the center of the room."

She did as she was told and studied the room. There were shelves mounted on the walls that contained numerous glass equipment with different kinds of liquids inside. In the middle of the room was a long table with a sink in each end. Chihiro sat down in the middle, where a graduated cylinder and other equipment were. Haku returned minutes later from one door opposite Chihiro and appeared to be holding a book and a basket full of plants.

"Aren't you supposed to be wearing proper lab equipment?" she teased, smirking at him.

He shook his head. "If you have that in the Human World, then that's great. But the potions I'm about to make aren't dangerous enough to put a hole on my kariginu. Now, shut up before I stuck this piece of seaweed up your nose."

"Like hell you could."

She watched intently as he scooped a variety of ingredients from the basket and put it on a wooden bowl. He ducked for a moment and pulled a few tall bottles of a gold liquid. What it was, Chihiro didn't know, but it seemed to be the base of the potion. She continued to fix her eyes on the bowl.

Haku poured half of the gold liquid into the bowl. It seemed to spark a reaction with the ingredients. He took the book from the table and flipped through the pages, chanting some spell under his breath. By now, the ingredients were fully dissolved and the gold liquid became a hot pink color. When he finished chanting, he grabbed a few nearby vials and what seemed to be a dropper, transferring the potion slowly so that it wouldn't drip.

"What's that supposed to do?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

He glanced at her. "This potion is supposed to restore some of our powers for a short period of time. If you drink it, though, nothing will happen. Although I think it should restore your energy and act as a medicine if you get sick."

"Incredible," she murmured, although judging from her tone, she did not seem amazed. "I'll go back to my room to catch up on some sleep, I guess. Sweet dreams, dragon."

Haku was busy transferring the potions into the vials to notice that Chihiro was leaving. It disappointed her because for a second, she thought he was going to bring up what they had discussed in Zeniba's house a week ago. Another week to wait was surely too much. What more did she have to think of?

The rest of the evening Chihiro spent staring at the ceiling, deep into her thoughts. The fact that he did not notice her walking out of the laboratory was enough to drive her insane. _Did he really care? Did he even like me? Maybe he just said that so I wouldn't feel bad at all. Yes, maybe that was it._

Tamotsu, who was now back to his dog form, stared worriedly at his master's distressed state. She noticed his gaze on her and so she started stroking his fur, telling him to sleep and not worry about her. Finally, she found peace with just stroking the dog and her eyelids grew heavy.

Chihiro woke up to someone shaking her. When she opened her eyes, she realized it was Tamotsu back in his human form. "Onee-chan," he whispered, "Master Haku is here."

That sent her rolling down the floor. She landed with a thud, right before Haku, who grabbed her hand to pull her up. "You alright?" he asked worriedly, although he got the answer to that question when she put her hand on the back of her head. "I guess not. Get dressed. We're leaving in a few minutes."

" _Insensitive piece of shit,"_ she grumbled when he left the room, closing the door behind him. Quickly, she slipped on some sweatpants and a loose shirt that sat casually on her closet. She grabbed her phone, wallet, and keys, shoving them inside her pockets before taking one last glance at her room.

Sadashi, Kigaha, and Haku were already waiting by the elevator when they got there. Their outfits shocked Chihiro the most. Haku was wearing a blue polo shirt and khaki cropped chinos, while Kigaha wore a loose shirt and shorts. Sadashi on the other hand just wore some jeans and a tucked-in shirt that had _I don't give a damn_ printed across. Tamotsu was the only one who was in his yukata, which made him slightly embarrassed.

"O-Onee-chan, you're all dressed differently," he whined softly. Heads turned towards him and eyes widened at what Tamotsu had just called Chihiro. There were mixed reactions from the group: Kigaha shot him a mischievous smirk while Sadashi's jaw just dropped. Haku was the one who seemed most offended since he had stepped closer to Tamotsu and had his hand out, a white magical orb suddenly making it windy down the corridor.

"What did you just call your master, inu?" Haku asked in a dangerous tone.

Chihiro immediately shielded Tamotsu, looking daggers at the river god. "Haku," she said softly, "I had him change the way he addressed me. Calling me a master doesn't fit me. Please understand that?"

"But he must address you that way!" he yelled. "This is unacceptable behavior, therefore I must punish him. Step aside." She did not budge.

Her glare intensified. "I'm not arrogant and egocentric like you so I treat those who serve me with equal respect! If you still want to push your stupid ideology, then do it with someone else." She grabbed Tamotsu's wrist and walked past Haku, making sure to bump his shoulder. Tamotsu gave a quick bow to the dragon and let her drag him.

He blinked and withdrew his arm, his slanted eyes visibly distraught and his lips pressed in a tight line. "Let's not waste time. We must go," was all he said. His tone was so quiet that it made her worried and uncomfortable.

They all stepped inside the elevator, Kigaha going in the middle of Haku and Chihiro. He decided to comfort the human by telling her some facts about the katana, quickly stealing her focus to him. The dragon, on the other hand, didn't seem impressed. He stole glances at her as she laughed at Kigaha's jokes.

As they were walking across the abandoned amusement park that lay between the bathhouse and the border, Chihiro purposely tried to make Haku even more upset. Part of her knew it was stupid, but she also wanted to see what he would do when he got jealous.

She moved closer to Kigaha, looping her arm in his. "Oi, Kigaha," she cheerfully exclaimed. "I heard from Sadashi that you're interested in knowing more about anime. Let's go to Akihabara if we have time then!"

Kigaha was flustered. "Sure, she showed me a lot of her shirtless Levi Ackerman posters! _Ow!"_ He rubbed his head and glared at Sadashi, who was now on his other side. "That hurt!"

Sadashi narrowed her eyes at him. "That was by accident, you sneaky pervert!" The three of them laugh, soon joined by Tamotsu's high pitched laughter.

Chihiro turned her head to see if Haku was there. And he was, about a meter away from her. When he noticed her looking, his eyes widened and she snapped her head back. _At least pretend like you're mad,_ she told herself before she swallowed.

At last, they reached the border. They stopped and examined it with astonishment. "I have never seen this up close," Kigaha muttered before looking at Chihiro. "It's beautiful, just like you."

They heard a soft sound of what seemed to be of shock from their back and Chihiro looked to see that it was just Haku. He averted her gaze, shoving his hands inside her pocket. He was pouting as he lowered his head to the ground. She found it adorable, but she really didn't want to be in good terms with him right now.

Sadashi called her attention back. "The tunnel is really narrow, so I think we should walk by pair," she said as she crossed her arms.

Without hesitation, Chihiro walked forward with Kigaha. Sadashi took Haku with him while Tamotsu stayed at the back.


	11. Chapter 11: In Which Their Relationship Blossoms

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, so just a heads-up: there will be a sort of mature scene (although it is not totally a lemon). Yeah, with that said, enjoy!

**WHEN THEY REACHED** the other side of the border, they immediately found Chihiro's car on the driveway. Chihiro fished for the keys from her pocket and opened the car. As Sadashi was yelling at the three men to get inside the car, Chihiro was checking if the tires were flat and if there was enough fuel.

It was silent for the whole trip as the boys were busy admiring the streets at night. Sadashi, who was driving, decided to talk to Chihiro. "You know," she said as she took a right on Chihiro's street, "the funny thing is that I miss walking through these streets. Wasn't life so simple before we went to the Spirit World?"

Chihiro rested her head against the door, looking out the window. She hummed in reply, watching familiar houses before Sadashi pulled up in the driveway of her house.

Chihiro thought the three men in the back would need assistance, but when Haku managed to open the door, she realized that maybe they should discover things for themselves. She was still kind of mad at him, so when they made eye contact, she immediately looked away.

Since only a day has passed in the Human World, nothing changed at all. Chihiro opened the door for them, readying three pairs of slippers for them. Sadashi already had her own since they've been here a Human World day ago.

Tamotsu and Kigaha couldn't conceal their excitement. They jumped everywhere-from the large air-conditioner by the living room, to the buzzing refrigerator. Sadashi and Chihiro let them be since they've never seen such technology in their life, going inside the kitchen to look for food. Haku, on the other hand, just sat with the two excited boys, looking at Chihiro longingly from his seat.

"It's a black mirror!" Kigaha screamed as he waved his hand in front of the television. "Amazing, what is it called?"

Sadashi gave him a dirty look. "It's called a television. You watch things in it," she said impatiently. Chihiro exited the kitchen to open the television, making the two men gasp, to which Sadashi rolled her eyes.

"Whoa, moving pictures!" Tamotsu muttered, awestruck. "It's like they're real. How do they work?"

Sadashi groaned. "Don't ask how they work. That will take a lifetime to explain."

Chihiro led them all upstairs, assigning their rooms. Sadashi would be staying at Yuuko and Akio's bedroom, while Chihiro would be staying in her room. That left the three men to occupy the guest bedroom, which had a king-sized and double bed in it.

She decided to pack everything she would bring in a suitcase. It was late January, so she packed bunch of petticoats and a jacket in case it would be snowing.

After taking a shower, all of them went to rest. However, not all were successful with the task on hand. Sadashi, of course, had to get accommodation and tickets done. Chihiro, on the other hand, had a hard time adjusting to her bed. She tossed and turned around to find a good position, but failed miserably. She decided to go downstairs to watch some television, but to her disappointment, she found the person she least expected to be sitting on the couch.

Haku noticed her approaching and he just stared at her. "Hey...." his voice trailed when she scooped the remote and sat across his spot. "I'm sorry for sparking up a misunderstanding between us."

Chihiro pretended to not hear him and continued to fumble with the remote. She felt him shuffle from the couch and when she turned to him, he was walking out of the living room.

"I didn't tell you to leave," she softly told him as she looked back at the television screen. "Did I say you could do that?"

"S-Sorry," she heard him stammer. She smirked, unable to contain how amused she was. It felt good to assert dominance.

He sat much closer to her and she let him take her hand. "I'm really sorry about earlier. I just thought that Tamotsu was being disrespectful. Nobody's really like that in the Spirit World you know. Sometimes, I forget that you're different."

Chihiro flipped through the recommendation section of Netflix before placing the remote on the table and turning to Haku. "I just wanted to give Tamotsu a chance to feel like he was loved. All his life, he was lonely and unloved. It's great of you to take him in and make him into your servant, but I see him differently. I see him as a sibling that wants to protect him, and I'm hoping he sees me that way. I want to have a bond with him that can last forever. I want to give him a chance."

He gave her a sincere smile, his eyes almost disappearing. "Oh, Chihiro. Your heart just never changes, huh? You were still who you were ten years ago...just hotter."

She giggled. "You became uglier though."

He pouted and pulled her much closer to him so that their faces were centimeters apart. "Mean. But I'm not surprised, especially because you've been a really bad girl. Who said you could flirt with another man other than me?"

"I enjoyed seeing you pissed off the whole time."

He leaned closer to her, his mouth close to her ear before he whispered, "Oh you succeeded alright. But Chihiro, remember that you're mine and only mine." He nibbled her ear, earning a gasp from her.

She immediately pushed him away and felt her face grow hot. "Says who?" she dared. "The last time I checked, we aren't even dating yet."

Haku rested his head on the back of the couch, his eyes never breaking contact with hers. "Can I ask you something really, really stupid?"

"I mean you're already stupid so I wouldn't be surprised," she teased, earning a wide grin from him.

"Have you made up your mind?" he asked softly.

She arched an eyebrow. "About what? _Oh, that._ Well, you see, if we were to date, it would be a pretty big choice. I'd have to leave the Human World and abandon my life there as I start a new one here. My parents, my college, my friends...I'll never be able to get back to my old life." Then she paused. "But Haku, because you swept me off my feet, I'm going to have to be stupid for once."

He blinked. "And your decision is?"

"I'm staying here. I choose my happiness. It makes me feel very selfish and inconsiderate of my parents and my friends' feelings, but I'm thinking long-term. I'd say a lot more, but really, life without you will just be incomplete. How about you?"

Haku moved even closer. They were so close that she could smell his calming scent. "I've thought about the dangers of having you here, Chihiro. Many spirits are against humans living here. They could kill you. So, as much as possible, I really wanted to contain my feelings for you, but I couldn't hold back anymore when you told me you were interested in me. After all, it's hard to fall in love with someone you already had feelings for ten years ago. Chihiro, I am madly in love with you. So if I can ask, will you do the honors of dating this stubborn dragon in front of you?"

Chihiro felt a hot tear slide down her cheek as she stared at Haku. "Yes, of course. After all, I still can't believe I'm in love with an egghead like you."

She got up her spot and sat down on top of him so that she was straddling him. Her lips crashed with his, ending up in a sloppy and hungry kiss. Her hands wound upon his shoulder, pulling him even closer to her. Soon, they pulled away, but Haku had other thoughts.

His mouth trailed butterfly kisses down her jaw and down to her neck. He started sucking on the delicate skin of her neck, causing her breath to hitch in surprise. She squirmed a little, not because she wanted to, but rather they were in public. Anyone could walk in anytime soon. But the thought of being discovered immediately left her mind when she felt his hand slide down from her shoulder down her waist and landed on the side of her thigh.

"H-Haku," she whimpered when he bit on her neck. "What if someone walks in on us?" Honestly, that wasn't what made her anxious. The thought of things going too fast bothered her the most. Was she really going to have her first in an empty laboratory?

For some reason, that heightened her excitement even more. She felt his hand stop on the hem of her shirt before it slid underneath it and proceeded to caress her body. His hand on her skin made her go crazy and she found herself wanting more. Her body was on fire at this point.

She let his hand explore her body and make her feel like she was in heaven. He traced her side and slid further down her back until it reached her bosom, which he squeezed lightly. She felt him smirk against her neck when she let out a soft moan in response.

His hand slid up her back and met the clasp of her bra. A new sensation pooled somewhere beneath her stomach and it made her uncomfortable. It grew when he used his other hand to place a gentle stroke on her thigh.

Everything was stopped when Sadashi burst inside the room and screamed. "What the hell, you two?" she shrieked as Chihiro removed herself from Haku's lap and sat back down her original spot, straightening her pajamas. "If you're going to do it, at least do it in your room or something."

Haku turned to Sadashi, glaring at her despite blushing wildly. "And if you're looking for someone, at least yell their name while you're going downstairs, _goddammit!"_

She waved her hand to dismiss him. "Alright, so, unfortunately, Hiroto and I couldn't find a flight that leaves immediately in the morning. The earliest available is at 11 pm. It's going to be a 14-hour flight, meaning we'll arrive at 1 pm, Japan local time. In Budapest local time, that would be 6 am. I guess that removes two days from our eight-day time limit. No need to worry though, I've booked it already, including the bullet train. We leave at eleven in the morning."

Chihiro straightened her back. "Alright, I'll go wake up at six so I can cook some breakfast. I'll see what I can buy in the grocery store tomorrow morning. I should sleep now then. What time is it even?"

Sadashi fished for her phone to check the time. "It's two in the morning. Go to bed and get some sleep." With that, she turned her heel and descended back up the stairs.

Chihiro reached for the remote and switched the television off. "We should get back to bed too," she yawned. Haku nodded. They followed Sadashi back up and parted ways, Haku going back to the room he shared with the boys.

As she was making the bed, Chihiro heard her door open and she turned around to see that it was just him. He gave her a sheepish smile and scratched his nape. "Well, Kigaha and Tamotsu are having a snoring competition back in our room so I was wondering if I could share a bed with you?"

She giggled. "Do you really have to ask your girlfriend, Haku? Or should I say, your pretend wife?" He grinned and joined her in the bed. Before she knew it, she had drifted into a deep slumber.

▂▂▂▂▂▂

The alarm Chihiro had set came blaring at six in the morning, startling Chihiro. She turned it off immediately and turned to look at Haku, who was still fast asleep. She went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face then proceeded to the kitchen to cook food. As she was deciding if she should cook some rice, she felt a presence behind her and soon after a pair of arms wrapped around her waist.

"Good morning," came the low husky voice of Haku before he planted a kiss on her cheek. "I got scared when I woke up and you weren't beside me."

Chihiro turned around and planted a quick kiss on his lips before going to the kitchen to drink some water. "You know," she said softly when he leaned against the countertop beside her, "I wanted to cook a really good meal for you all, but I realized that I didn't have the ingredients."

He shrugged. "Let's go to the grocery store then. Don't they have one out here?"

"How do you know that grocery stores exist? Could it be that you've been to the Human World?"

"I have," he admitted. "I know as much as Sadashi knows since I'm the one who thought her what she needs to blend in with the Human World."

One question lingered inside her head. "Haku, the first time I left the Spirit World, I lost my memories of it. But just yesterday...nothing happened. How is that possible?"

For a long time, he just stared into her eyes without saying anything. "Because I didn't erase your memories this time."

She felt mixed emotions well up in her head. She was angry, frustrated, bewildered, and surprised at the same time that she couldn't even look at him in the eye. Knowing Haku, he would have done that before because he didn't want her to return. The purple hair tie her friends made sealed her memories. If Zeniba had them make it, did she know what would happen in the future? Was she aware of Chihiro's prophecy?

She tried not to stay mad at him, but how could he do that to her? She knew she had to understand that it was for her own good, so why was she angry?

He was too selfless. She remembered him saying that he waited for her for ten years. How could he have endured that feeling for so long, knowing that she didn't remember him and was living a fantastic life? He even sent Sadashi. After all these years, he loved her.

 _So, as much as possible, I really wanted to contain my feelings for you,_ he had said earlier. She felt her heart being pounded by a sledgehammer. After waiting for so long, he'd still be willing to keep his feelings in and not tell her at all.

Did she truly deserve him?

She realized she had been sobbing the whole time when he pulled her closer to him. "H-Haku, I don't deserve you," she cried, her voice hitching as she sobbed even more. "Why didn't you tell me from the start that you loved me?"

"Because it's not common for a human and a spirit to be together. You know I had to do it for you."

She let herself calm down before speaking up. She looked at him with glassy eyes and said, "I love you. All you ever think about is me when you should be thinking about yourself too. Idiot." Tears were also streaming down his cheeks, but unlike her, he just kept his mouth shut.

"I love you too, Chihiro," he whispered. "And I will never get tired of you."

She smiled. "Neither will I. Also, we should really go to the grocery store right now."


	12. Chapter 12: In Which She Meets Two Special People

**THE MINI GROCERY STORE THAT** was open for 24 hours is right around the corner from Chihiro's house, which was really convenient. A familiar face greeted Haku and Chihiro when they stepped inside.

" _Ohayo,_ Katsumi," Chihiro greeted as she waved at her friend. She reluctantly put her hand on Haku's shoulder. "This is my boyfriend, Haku. Haku, this is Katsumi. She was one of my friends in high school."

Haku bowed his head. "Nice to meet you."

Katsumi smiled at the couple. " _Ohayo,_ Chihiro, Haku. Wow, Chi, you really have a good taste in men! No wonder you rejected Yamato in high school." Chihiro let out a nervous laugh when she noticed the change in Haku's demeanor. Quickly, she grabbed a cart and pulled him into the ramen aisle.

He smirked at her. "Oi, Chihiro, who is this Yamato? Some high school fling?" He leaned towards her to put his arm on her shoulder, but she was quick to dodge him and walked away, not answering his question. "Hey, hey! Don't avoid my question. Who is Yamato?"

Chihiro rolled her eyes as she started placing some ingredients in the cart. "Why do you want to know?"

"In case you don't remember, I'm your boyfriend now, so I basically have the right to know. Besides, I'm impressed to know that my girlfriend is popular with the boys."

"Fine," she finally responded. "I'll answer when we get out of this place."

They quickly got the ingredients they needed to make breakfast and paid for it. Chihiro caught Katsumi stealing glances at Haku while she was scanning the items. He didn't seem to notice, only pouting as he stared at the poster on the wall. Chihiro felt a small pang of jealousy, but she knew she didn't have to feel that way since he wouldn't have an interest in Katsumi anyway.

"Bye!" she said, waving at her friend. "See you soon." Katsumi smiled and waved back as they left the store.

Not even a yard away, Haku put his head in front of her face and gave her a mischievous smirk. She growled and pushed his head away, crossing her arms. "Oh fine. Katsumi, Yamato, and I were friends back in high school. We would hang out often and have sleepovers in each others' houses. Apparently, Yamato had started to develop feelings for me."

She paused when he squinted at her. "No, it was unrequited." He heaved a sigh of relief. "I didn't see him that way so of course, that kind of made us awkward. But we became friends again during our last year of high school."

"I see," he said, wrapping an arm around her waist. "I'm actually proud because I managed to steal the heart of a literal boy magnet. How lucky I am."

She blushed and playfully hit his arm. "Oh shut up, you arrogant dragon." By now, they were close to Chihiro's house. As they went through the gate, they noticed someone waiting by the doorstep.

"Need some help?" Sadashi asked as she leaned against the closed front door. "I woke up early so I could help you."

Chihiro smiled and hugged Sadashi. "It's alright. You've done a lot. Go binge on some Netflix shows with Kigaha," she teased with a wink.

Sadashi's cheeks turned red. "What the hell? You have no idea, Chi." She shrugged off whatever she was thinking. "I'm starving."

▂▂▂▂▂▂

All five of them boarded the Shinkansen bullet train at eleven. In four hours, they will arrive in Tokyo and will have enough time to go around and do a little sightseeing before their 11 pm flight. Sadashi suggested that they should leave their bags in one of the locker areas provided in the train station so they wouldn't have any problems lugging them around like tourists.

Since Tamotsu was basically a five year old in the Human World, it would be logical for him to sit next to a parent. That's why Chihiro was seated next to him despite Haku's protests. The dragon was seated across them next to Kigaha. Sadashi was seated in front of them and was lucky enough to have no one beside her.

For the whole duration of the trip, Chihiro was asleep, having only four hours of sleep. With a nap like that, she didn't expect to have a dream. She was still inside the train, however, every seat was empty and it was sunset, which cast an orange glow inside the train. She tried to get up but found herself unable to. Then she noticed a figure sliding down the aisle and stop beside her. She turned and was face to face with a woman with pale pink eyes and flowy blond hair. She wore white robes that complimented her figure well.

"Lady Ichika," Chihiro muttered as she widened her eyes.

The goddess smiled down at her. "We meet again, Chihiro. And I see you are going to Ekisha. However, I must tell you that you must not be afraid when you hear the prophecy. It may surprise you, but things don't always go according to what is written. It is still up to you and other factors that will determine your fate. With that said...."

Chihiro stared at her as she scooped out an injection from her pocket. "My lady, what is that?"

"I cannot inject you with this right now because you are not in your physical form. I'm only communicating with you in a dream, remember? But I believe I must give you an explanation. This will protect you from the battle. I would love to tell you how it works, but I, unfortunately, cannot. When you return from your trip, you must come to me and I will inject this to you."

Chihiro blinked. "Pardon my words, my Lady, but that will not kill me, right?"

Ichika let out a warm laugh. "No, no. If it was going to kill you, that necklace Kohaku gave you will be able to sense it and will shield you from the needle. As I said, it will protect you, but not the way you think it will. I want to tell you now, but I decided to keep it until the end."

The human didn't know what to do at that point. Could she completely trust Ichika? What if she was mad at Chihiro for being in a relationship with Haku and secretly wanted to kill her?

"I heard that you and Kohaku are dating," the goddess teased with a wink as she sat on one of the seats across Chihiro. "Do me a favor and never leave his side. He loves you dearly and it would crush me if he returns to his... old self. You see, the two of us weren't in very good terms from the start, but when you came, he changed. Sure, he still gets annoyed and all flustered when I'm around, but you have no idea how mild that is compared to how he was early in his life. I love him very much, and I know you coming into his life is a blessing."

Chihiro was dumbfounded. She expected Ichika would turn her into cinder for dating her son or be that evil mother-in-law who purposely pours boiling hot water on her daughter-in-law. Ichika apparently just a normal loving mother that reminded her of her own mother.

"I love Haku," she replied as she met the goddess's gaze. "Favor or not, I will never leave his side until the day I die. You have my word on that, Lady."

Ichika grinned and sank into her seat, staring outside the window. "You know, if you need help with anything, like advice maybe, you can always approach me. We're basically family now. I was also wondering if you'd like to see how my powers work. It's so boring not using these powers for a long time."

The human nodded. Ichika was about to wave her hand, but immediately stopped and stared at the ceiling. "I must go," she said, getting up from her seat. "We will continue this some other time. And Chihiro?"

"Yes?" Chihiro asked.

Ichika shot her a sincere smile. "Don't tell anyone that you encountered me, alright?" With that, everything went black. Before Chihiro knew it, she was being poked.

"Okasan?" went Tamotsu's voice. _Why is he calling me Okasan? Oh, right. I'm his mother._ She immediately sat up and moaned in pain when a sudden pain traveled to her neck. "Are you okay? We're almost in Tokyo."

She didn't respond, only blinking as she adjusted to the lights inside the train. She began stretching her arms and stowed her belongings into her bag. Her arms immediately wrapped around Tamotsu and with a high pitched voice, she asked him, "Mitsui, did you sleep well?"

He nodded and smiled at her. "Otosan is also fast asleep." She turned her head and saw that Haku was still sound asleep. She met Kigaha's gaze and gestured for them to swap places. He nodded and got up as she did. Since Kigaha was on the aisle seat, it wasn't hard to be sneaky. He sat on her seat and started talking to Tamotsu about anime.

Chihiro turned her attention to the sleeping river god. She stared at his slightly parted lips and his delicately closed eyes with curled eyelashes. He definitely looked hot even while he was sleeping. She lifted the armrest parting their chairs and slid closer to him, taking one of his arms and intertwining her fingers with his. That simple action made him flinch and he opened his eyes.

"Good afternoon, sleepyhead," she greeted as she pecked his lips. "We're almost there, so if I were you, how about you start waking up?"

He yawned before snaking his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him to press his lips against hers. "You know, you forgot to wear something if we're going to act like we're married." He fished for something from his pocket and before she could comprehend what was happening, he slipped something on her ring finger. She lifted her hand up and saw that he had put a gold ring with a diamond.

"I have one too," he declared, showing her the ring in his finger. "Now everyone knows you're mine."

Chihiro smiled against his chest. "I've no idea what else in your pants' pocket, but you sure have a lot of things prepared."

Haku let out a low chuckle before leaning closer to her ear, nibbling on it before whispering, "There's something else hidden in my pants, darling." She almost choked on air, turning beet red as she glanced quickly at what he was talking about.

As she was about to ask something, the speakers played a tune and announced that they will be arriving in Tokyo in five minutes. She was about to move away from him, but he is grip on her tightened. "Later," he whispered as he pouted. "Can't I enjoy cuddling with my girlfriend a little more?" She giggled as she rested her head back in his chest and enjoyed his warmth.

* * *

"Oh my god!" Sadashi suddenly screamed as she put her face on the window of one shop. "They have a body pillow of Tobio Kageyama! Should I buy it? Should I, should I?" She started jumping around and shrieking like a total fangirl, causing a scene. The three other boys shot her a deadpanned face while Chihiro apologized to the bystanders and pulled Sadashi away.

As they walked past more shops filled with anime merchandise, Chihiro began to look around the area. Then she met a familiar pair of jade eyes. She immediately stopped on her tracks and turned to whoever owned them. It startled her how he resembled her boyfriend so much, except he had a different haircut. _Huh, so Haku would definitely look good with that haircut._

"Hideo," she muttered under her breath absentmindedly, before her eyes widened. "You're Hideo!"

Hideo smiled at her, his eyes sparkling with amusement. "I am amazed by how you recognized me. I have seen the future, Chihiro, and must I say things will not be the way you think they will. The mortal is not you."

She stared at him with confusion. "What? I don't understand—" 

"You will understand in due time," he interrupted. "I do not have much time. But let me just tell you this: Defeat him and set us free." With a much sincere tone, he said, "Take care of my stubborn brother for me, and tell my regards to Akasuki." With that, he vanished into thin air, leaving Chihiro bewildered.

From behind her, she could hear her friends calling for her, growing closer every second. "Chihiro!" Sadashi yelled, hugging the still frozen in place human. "Did you see things?"

Chihiro turned around and immediately saw the worried faces of her friends. Could she tell them what happened? Was it safe to say what Hideo said? She realized she was shaking when Tamotsu held her hands.

"Goodness," Sadashi nervously laughed. "Did you see a ghost? Or did you see some hot dude?" She smirked at Haku, who was now glaring at her.

Chihiro shook her head slowly, avoiding the gaze of her friends. "I-I...I met Hideo," she said quietly, earning mixed reactions. Haku flinched and scrunched his eyebrows and Kigaha just gasped. Tamotsu suddenly looked very worried, but it was Sadashi's reaction that broke Chihiro's heart.

"Hideo..." Sadashi whispered as she placed her hands on her heart. Tears began to stream down her cheeks, but she instantly wiped them away with the back of her hand. "Um, we should get going now. I really want to buy that Levi Ackerman Figma in Good Smile cafe."


	13. Chapter 13: In Which She Arrives in Budapest

**THE FLIGHT TO BUDAPEST** took very long. They first had to land in Munich, Germany so they can take a connecting flight to Budapest. Even if four of them were spirits, it seemed that they weren't able to suppress their fatigue. By the time they landed in Budapest, they were all worn out.

In the customs, Chihiro feared they would be caught with a fake passport, but to her surprise, the customs officer was very warm to them. "Vacation with your family?" he asked in English, glancing at Haku.

She gave him a warm smile. "Yes," she replied in English as well, surprising Haku and Tamotsu with her eloquence. "I heard Budapest is really nice with all the aesthetic gothic architecture."

The officer was pleased with her fluency. "That's delightful. Enjoy your trip!" The trio bowed at the officer and met Sadashi and Kigaha at the baggage claim.

"Okasan," Tamotsu exclaimed, holding on to Chihiro's hand. "How are you so good at English?"

She giggled. "I used to study in an international school, that's why I'm fluent at it."

Kigaha approached them, crossing his arms across his chest. "Sadashi said the chauffeur is already waiting for us."

Chihiro blinked. "Chauffeur?" she asked with a hint of confusion in her voice. "Why do we need a chauffeur when we can use public transportation which is ten times more fun?" Everyone looked at her with disbelief.

Haku put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it lightly. "It's just for going to our hotel and to Ekisha's location. Other than that, we can opt to use public transportation when we go sightseeing."

She decided not to protest anymore as she got the point. She had completely forgotten the fact that their powers didn't work in the Human World. But how was Hideo able to vanish into thin air if his powers didn't work? He could've drunk a potion to give him his powers. Or were the spirits of the Underworld much stronger than ordinary spirits?

Questions started to circle in her thoughts all throughout the car ride to the hotel. Sadashi, Haku, and Kigaha were talking about famous places in Budapest while Tamotsu was fast asleep on Chihiro's lap. She stared out the window, deep into her mental argument.

Other than Hideo, she also had Ichika to worry about. Chihiro didn't have a fear of injections growing up, but neither was she fond of them. In the Human World, it would be frightening if someone walked up and offered you to inject a substance into your bloodstream. It could be drugs or poison—you may never know. But she had a gut feeling that Ichika wouldn't try to kill her. To murder the human bound to a prophecy would be accepting the doom of the two worlds. Ichika knew better than that.

Chihiro shifted in her seat uncomfortably, reaching down to stroke Tamotsu's soft tresses. If Ichika was going to inject something that would _help her,_ what could it be? _This will protect you from the battle,_ the goddess's words rang inside her head. Could it be a protection spell?

Even though Chihiro knew not much about the Spirit World, she somehow sensed that protection spells didn't work that way. Haku gave her the necklace that would keep her safe (although it wasn't made of protection spells, Sadashi had informed her before) and when she was with Sadashi and Lin, she had been made aware of how protection spells really work through the use of the bathhouse.

Why would something completely temporary be injected into her bloodstream? Chihiro mentally crossed out the probability of the substance being a protection spell. Suddenly, a very absurd thought entered her head. She didn't see the logic behind it being possible, so she let go of it pretty soon.

The feeling of Haku's hand squeezing hers snapped her out of her thoughts instantly. She turned to him with a troubled look on her face and he inched to her, carrying Tamotsu's legs and setting it on his lap so that Tamotsu's body was completely flat across their legs. Haku put an arm around her and planted a soft kiss on her forehead. She absentmindedly moved her head to Kigaha, who was sitting right beside him, and Sadashi, who was in the passenger seat in front.

"What are you thinking about?" the river god whispered, a soft smile forming against his lips. "You look very distressed. Tell me, what's wrong?"

"I'm thinking about the war," she lied as her eyes looked down at her feet. "And a lot more stuff related to that."

There was silence between them as they heard Kigaha and Sadashi talking about anime. Chihiro envied them for not having to be bothered by unwanted thoughts similar to hers. Haku moved the arm that was previously on her shoulder down to her waist and wrapped around her like a seatbelt.

"What are you doing?" she screamed and whispered at the same time, although probably not loud enough for the two arguing before them to hear. She feared it was another one of those antics similar to the one Sadashi had caught them doing. _Not in the car, goddammit._ "Now is not a good time to cuddle."

He buried his face on her shoulder. "Whatever. I could use you as a pillow." Just when his breath went steady against her shoulder blade, the car pulled up to a large hotel by the Danube river.

"Yes, it's a Marriott hotel," Sadashi exclaimed even though nobody had asked nor reacted to it outwardly. "Hiroto insisted on booking this. Now Master Haku will go broke."

"Oh, shut up," Haku mumbled as he removed his head from her shoulder and shook Tamotsu awake. The spirit did not respond other than snore loudly.

"Carry him," Chihiro said as she opened the door and got out. "Can't carry your own son, dear?" She giggled in satisfaction when he rolled his eyes and hesitantly carried Tamotsu, who instantly wrapped his limbs on Haku's body. They went to the lobby to check-in as the lobby attendant offered to put their bags in the trolley.

Chihiro couldn't believe what she heard from the receptionist. Sadashi would get her own room while Tamotsu and Kigaha shared a deluxe twin room with the castle and river view. Chihiro and Haku would be residing in the presidential suite, which was a little too much but she really couldn't do anything.

As Haku was signing the forms, Chihiro felt her purse moving. She turned and saw that Sadashi had slipped something inside. With a wink, her friend whispered, "I bought it in the convenience store at the airport. Thought you might need it." Chihiro checked her purse and gasped at what she saw. Her cheeks immediately heated up.

"Sadashi!" she whispered as she felt so embarrassed. "What the hell?"

"You'll thank me later. Don't tell him it's there in your bag though." Chihiro couldn't argue with Sadashi though since she really was being cautious.

"Come on, you two," Kigaha called as he walked to the elevator with Tamotsu and Haku. As they got in the elevator, they talked about having dinner in the presidential suite so they could have a meeting. They parted ways as they got off their respective floors.

Soon, it was just Haku and Chihiro left together with a staff that will escort them to their room. As they entered the room, they were greeted by a mirror and a potted plant. The door on the left led to a separate bedroom that had a king-sized bed and a mini living room. You could see St. Peter's Basilica from the window across the bed and Gellert hill from other windows. A private bathroom was also inside the bedroom and Chihiro's eyes widened when she saw how spacious it was inside. There was a huge jacuzzi with a shower room beside it. There were also two sinks from across it.

She exited the room and walked across to get to the huge space. To her right was a dining room and to her right was the main living room. What amazed her the most was the enormous balcony beside the living room. The view from where she was standing was breathtaking. There was no roof from the balcony, which added to the panoramic view of the buildings along the Danube river. She could see the Buda Castle and the Szechenyi chain bridge to her right, and if she looked to the left, she would see the Citadel up Gellert Hill.

Haku went beside her to admire the view. "Beautiful, isn't it?" he chuckled as he moved closer to her. "You better enjoy it because I paid quite a lot of money for this room."

She looked at him and grinned. "Beautiful is an understatement. It's breathtakingly magnificent." She turned to him and noticed that he was leaning closer to her. She knew what it meant and she gladly refused it. "I'll go take a shower."

"Can I join?" he asked with a sly look on his face. "I haven't taken a shower yet."

"No." She tried not to blush at the thought and just nodded hesitantly before turning around and walking back to the room. "But do fill up the tub while I wash in the shower stand."

She opened her luggage and proceeded to fill the cabinet up inside their bedroom with her clothes. Since they wouldn't be going outside for the rest of the day, she decided to wear her white off-shoulder spring dress. She knew it was winter, but she just wanted to look as nice as possible when she was with Haku.

She stripped off of her clothes and stepped into the shower stand, turning up the hot water. As she was lathering the shampoo on her head, she heard the water go off beside her. She sighed in relief when she saw that the glass door was immediately fogged up so Haku must've not seen her naked.

"Oi, hurry up," he said as she heard the water filling up the bathtub stop. "If you don't, I'll join you."

She shrieked, washing off the soap from her body in a hurry. When she was done, she grabbed the towel but realized it was not there. Her face immediately went red. "H-Haku, can you hand me a towel?"

There was silence for a moment and just as she was about to repeat herself, the glass door was yanked open and Haku came into view. He was also naked, although a towel was wrapped around his waist. He stared at her from top to bottom, drinking in much of her body. And she just stood there covering the parts of her body that were private.

"T-T-Turn around, you idiot!" she screamed as she took the towel from his hand and shut the glass door. She could hear him chuckle in amusement from outside the shower stand. She quickly wrapped the towel around her and exited the shower. He stood by the sink, arms crossed and a mischievous smile on his face.

She glared at him and he stepped into the shower stand. Sighing in relief, she got in the bath, submerging her body up to her collar bone into the bubbles so he wouldn't see her if he got out any minute now.

Haku got out of the shower with his towel wrapped around his waist and walked out of the bathroom without a word. Chihiro felt herself relax to the steam the bath was emitting and before she knew it, she had fallen asleep. She was awoken by Haku's loud groan coming from the bedroom. It could have been just a few minutes later since her hands weren't wrinkly yet. She got up from the bath and wrapped a towel around her before draining the water.

"Haku? You alright there?" she asked as walked back to the bedroom. She shivered as the airconditioning hit her bare body, making some of the hair on her arms stand. "Why did I hear—" 

He was seated on the bed, remote in hand as he navigated through the streaming service in the TV mounted on the wall across the bed. "Sorry," he muttered, his eyes still glued to the TV. "I was just surprised by how many movies this thing has." She smiled and grabbed her clothes, walking back to the bathroom to get dressed.

For the rest of the time, Haku kept himself entertained with some Brooklyn 99, laughing away without noticing whatever was outside his bubble. Chihiro was a little taken aback when he admitted that he too knew how to speak English.

She, on the other hand, was a little relieved that he was doing something other than bothering her, although she found herself very anxious that she was alone. She was in the balcony again, lost in her thoughts.

She even ignored the fact that any minute now, someone could just pull her off the balcony and kidnap her or something. But then again, she had so much faith in that necklace she was wearing. What exactly did it do? Did it disintegrate anybody that tried to touch it? How did it know that she was in danger?

She remembered Ichika saying that it would sense the danger. Was Haku behind the necklace? Was he the one controlling the necklace around? _Probably not_ , she thought. If it was him, then when Ichika injects her with whatever substance that is, he would immediately know and shield her anyway. Maybe even yell at his mom for doing reckless things to Chihiro.

Thinking deep made her temples ache, but she really couldn't help other than do that while she was enjoying the view of the Buda Castle.

It was not long before Chihiro dozed off into the nearby lounge chair, having only one layer of her padded jacket. She would definitely get sick, she thought, but she was too tired to think.

She woke up about an hour and a half later to Sadashi, who looked down at her like she was pissed. "Why are you sleeping out in the cold?" she asked as she wrapped a thick wool blanket around Chihiro. "You'll get sick in here, you know? I mean...the view's really fantastic up here, but when they say it's breathtaking, you don't need to take it literally and have your breath be taken for real."

Chihiro couldn't process Sadashi's nagging and only stared at her as she held back a sneeze. And she failed at the task at hand. She sneezed onto her elbow, earning a soft tut from Sadashi. "Okay, you're sick now. You shouldn't have stayed in the cold."

Her friend proceeded to touch her forehead, Chihiro cringing at the touch of Sadashi's cold fingers. There was still warmth, but it was mostly cold. "You're not hot, literally I mean. Let's go inside now, shall we?"

The two girls went inside and into the dining area, where food was already being served. The three boys were already seated and were talking when they entered. Chihiro sat next to Tamotsu, the other girl sitting next to Kigaha. It was like the usual arrangement in the meeting room back in the Spirit World—Haku would be sitting at the head of the table looking like an intimidating boss. However, he was anything but intimidating.

Once the housekeeper left the room, Haku cleared his throat at Sadashi. She was first distraught, but she knew what he was asking for. "I've contacted Lady Ekisha," she started as she sliced through the chicken on her plate. "She replied to me, saying that she would visit us in two days, thus leaving us with a few free days. Tomorrow will be a free day as well, so you may do whatever you wish."

He nodded without looking at her in the eye, just turning around to study the Buda Castle behind him. "Why don't we all go on a tour?" Chihiro suddenly asked, receiving a lot of nods. "I've read a lot on my phone and I want to go to all of the places!"

"Sounds great," Kigaha replied before drinking his water. "Should we explore as a group or do we split?"

"Exploring as a group would be nice," Sadashi replied with a longing stare at the Buda Castle. "If an enemy attacks us, then they'll have to go through all five of us." Everyone laughed except Haku, who just smiled.

Tamotsu turned to Chihiro. "Do you know that the side of the river where the Buda Castle is is called the 'Buda' side, and this side is called the 'Pest' side?"

The human grinned at him and pat his head. "Amazing," she exclaimed. "Where did you read that from?"

"It was in one of the magazines I found in the room." He held up the magazine in his hands. The front cover was written in Japanese, which was very convenient.

The rest of the dinner was full of talks, and as usual, Haku didn't engage much, only observing whoever was speaking. They haven't realized that it was already nine in the evening since they were having so much fun. The three spirits left the room to go to their own rooms to rest up, leaving Chihiro and Haku alone once again.

They both sat in the living room by the balcony, having some small talk that Chihiro didn't mind at all. "I wanna go to the Budapest Eye. You know, that Ferris wheel thing? I wanna ride that with you."

She rested her back against the chair, deep into her own thoughts. Honestly, she was scared of how alone they were. He could make a move right now and she feared not being able to resist him.

There was silence was between them, although awkward tension wasn't present. Haku was bored though and so he suggested watching TV anyway. Chihiro obliged, although she decided to sleep right away.

"Good night," she whispered to him before giving him a peck on the cheek. "Don't stay up too late."

He pulled her closer to him and she put her head on his chest, her breath steadying as she slowly fell into a dreamless state.


	14. Chapter 14: In Which She Inches Closer to Her Doom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Light teasing lemon thing--- I don't know how to word it, but you should be able to get what I mean.

**CHIHIRO WOKE UP** at around six-thirty in the morning. The sun was just rising across the horizon, basking an orange glow across the city. She rolled out of bed to brush her teeth and do basic hygiene. When she came back to lie down for a little bit more, Haku was still asleep, or so she thought.

When she put her head back in the pillow, she felt his arms wrap around her waist. Then he trailed butterfly kisses up her back to her neck.

"Haku," she whispered, her hands on wrists as he was still hugging her.

"Morning," replied his husky and low morning voice before he continued planting more kisses down her shoulder to her arms and then he stopped on her waist. "What's wrong?"

"What are you doing? It's so early in the morning for that."

"For what? Oh, you mean _this_?" His arms unclasped themselves from her waist and one of them started to move around and feel her dips and curves before they slipped into her shirt, lightly rubbing circles on her bare skin. She noticed that the circles were gradually moving higher and higher until they reached the bottom of her breasts.

That's when she pushed it away and faced him, crashing her lips on his as if she was challenging him. He gladly accepted the challenge, reaching out and unbuttoning her shirt. He moved a little towards her, pinning her down the bed as he finished down the last button before opening her shirt like it was a book.

The cold air made contact with her bare skin and she shivered a little. It didn't even help that he was leaving wet traces from her shoulder down her stomach. He took some time to express how much he loves her, his hand gently making circles once again on her side.

He stopped for a while before giving her a good look. Then he lowered himself down her chest, latching his mouth to one of her nipples and fondling with the other. She let out a soft sigh, absentmindedly smashing her thighs shut. He rose back up and started sucking on the flesh of her neck, looking for that one sweet spot.

When he found it, she gasped and put an arm around him. Slowly, her arms made their way down his shirt before tugging it and pulling it up even slower just to tease him. He didn't like it, obviously, because he grunted against her neck and bit down softly on the flesh he was sucking. She gave him a smirk.

Just as he helped her get out of his shirt, her phone rang. They stared at each other for a moment before Chihiro rolled over to the nightstand to grab her phone and checked the caller ID. It was Sadashi. _Sadashi is my savior!_

"She's always interrupting us," Haku whined as he pulled the sheets over them. She giggled and accepted the call.

"Hey," came Sadashi's voice from the other line. "I hope I didn't wake you up."

"No, no, you didn't," Chihiro replied.

"But you did interrupt _something_ ," Haku added, receiving a light slap on the arm from his girlfriend. She hoped the other person in the line didn't hear it. Unfortunately, she did.

Chihiro heard Sadashi chuckle. "Whatever. You can go continue that some other time. Anyway, I was wondering if you'd like to come tour with us later, or if you two would be doing things on your own."

"No, no, we'll definitely come with you. What time should we go around?"

"I'm thinking around 8 or 9. We still have to eat breakfast though, so I guess let's say 9 at most. I'm going to eat breakfast now. See you in the lobby." With that, the call was dropped.

Chihiro put her phone back on the nightstand and began to button up her shirt once again, much to Haku's dismay. He pouted as he slipped his shirt back on. "We have to be in the lobby by 8," she said. She didn't even dare to tell him that Sadashi was giving them at most 9 just so he could get the idea of them continuing what they were previously doing out of the way.

He held her hand in his, still pouting. "We have like an hour and thirty minutes, darling. We could eat breakfast and take a shower really quick— _Ow!"_ He put his free hand on his cheek, massaging the area where she had pinched him.

She giggled, getting out of the bed and grabbing some clothes from the cabinet. "Don't get any ideas, dragon. I'm taking a bath right now." 

Right after they took turns in taking a shower, they went to eat breakfast at the M Club Lounge, which was exclusive for those who took the suites. It was very quiet, Chihiro noted. Other than them, there were only two others who looked to be businessmen dining quite far away from them. It would've been much better if they had joined the other three in the regular buffet breakfast. 

They proceeded to the lobby after Chihiro went back to the room to brush her teeth. Sadashi, Kigaha, and Tamotsu were waiting for them by the couches looking very excited and full of energy. Kigaha and Tamotsu were studying a map brochure while Sadashi was taking photos of the lobby. 

"So where do we go?" Sadashi asked in a mocking tone as she raised her phone to the ceiling, taking photos of the aesthetic lighting. "You literally denied the chauffeur so I guess you shall be our guide." 

Chihiro, on the other hand, came prepared. "We can go to three different places today. The Szechenyi chain bridge, then we can walk to the next bus stop going up the Buda Castle and Fisherman's Bastion." 

"Great, so what do we ride on?" 

"Are you kidding me? We're walking!" Everyone groaned although they couldn't protest since Chihiro was glaring at them. "Come on, let's go!" 

"My feet are going to hurt!" Tamotsu protested as he held on to Chihiro's hand. 

The human rolled her eyes. "It's literally just a kilometer away from here. Aren't you all used to walking in the Spirit World?" Nobody replied. 

And so the five walked by the Danube river to the Szechenyi chain bridge, stopping very often to take photographs. Sadashi was a pro at posing for photos, while Chihiro could only strike a peace sign. It took around twenty minutes for them to get to the Szechenyi chain bridge. 

"Wow," Kigaha exclaimed. "Wish we had bridges like this in the Spirit World." 

They continued walking across and taking photos was a given. This time, however, Sadashi taught Chihiro how to properly pose. Chihiro was a quick learner, posing like a model just like how Sadashi had taught her. 

Kigaha chuckled as he crossed his arms. "Ah, you're adorable, Chihiro!" Tamotsu grinned and Haku grunted in annoyance. Haku sped up, continuing to walk across the bridge. The four of them immediately sped up, running after the obviously jealous god. 

Chihiro caught on to him first, looping her arm on his. They allowed Sadashi, Tamotsu, and Kigaha to walk before them, slowing down to make sure that was possible. "You jealous freak," she muttered as she studied the river below them. Budapest never failed to take her breath away. "You know, we could've had our first kiss here. That would've been more memorable than Zeniba's house." 

Haku stopped on his tracks and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him. His lips crashed with hers and kissed her passionately for a few seconds before Chihiro slapped his arm, making him pull away. "Ow, that hurt!" he said in a fake hurt voice. "What was that for?" 

"For being jealous," she said quietly as her cheeks started to fill with a red glow. "And for kissing me in public." 

He took her hand in his and laughed as they started to walk again. "What's wrong with telling the whole world that you're the one I love?" 

"Oh shut up." 

"Oi, lovebirds!" Sadashi yelled before them. "Hurry up! You're lagging behind." 

As soon as they caught up with the group, they were meters away from the next bus stop. A bus immediately stopped before them. Chihiro checked her phone to see if it was the right bus to hop on. "That's it." 

Just as they were about to hop on the bus, Sadashi stepped back and fell on the ground. Chihiro gasped when she saw the horror in her friend's face. Sadashi managed to limp towards a nearby bench, resting there as she sweats furiously.   
  
"Let's go back to the hotel," Haku offered, his expression turning grim. He stared at Sadashi with slight horror, a little dumbfounded too, based on his eyes. 

Upon hearing that, she shook her head weakly. "No. You go. I'll rest up in the hotel. Don't mind me, it's probably just the jet lag. I'll go drink up some medicine." 

Kigaha was fishing something from his pocket, but she abruptly swatted his hand. "No," she refused, her voice dangerously increasing in volume. "You're not wasting that on me. I'll be alright."

Chihiro blinked, the sides of her mouth dropping into a frown. "Well, at least take Tamotsu with you. You can't just limp across a bridge and walk a kilometer from there." She glanced at Tamotsu, who just bowed at the mention of his name. "Text me once you get there." 

Sadashi nodded before pointing at an approaching bus. "Get up there and take some good photos." 

* * *

**HAKU LEANED AGAINST** the wall as Chihiro started to talk about drinks that he didn't know. "No, I don't drink coffee. I'm more into tea, so if they have just that, then that would be nice." 

"Full leaf brewed tea then, I suppose," she muttered as she jotted that down on her phone. She looked up at Kigaha, who looked confused. 

"Hold on," the forest god asked as he rested a hand on his hip. "You're telling me that they have a drink that's made of chocolate? How is such a rare delicacy even transformed into a drink that you would most likely treat like water?" 

Haku let out a sharp sigh. "Chocolate isn't rare in the Human World, you dumbass. Give him the hot chocolate then." 

She nodded. "You sure you'd prefer to stay here outside in the cold? It's quite warm inside." 

Kigaha's eyes lit up. "Oh sure, let's get—" Haku glared at him and he squeaked, letting out a nervous laugh. "No, we're good. You'll be quick anyway." 

"Alright. Don't blame me if you start shivering." She turned around and walked into the Starbucks that was conveniently located at the site of Fisherman's Bastion. 

Haku crossed his arms, his eyes locked on Chihiro's figure, not wanting her to leave his sigh. He was ready to scoop the vial from his pocket and drink it if things went pretty bad. However, it looked like nobody was going to attack them. He relaxed a little at the thought of that. 

"I didn't expect that to happen to her right now," Kigaha said from beside him, glancing up at the sky. "Do you have an idea what's happening?" 

"I do," Haku replied, his tone dangerously low and his expression stoic. "I'm hypothesizing that Akumu is starting to go over the second stage. You know what happens in the second stage, right?" He gazed at Kigaha without moving his head. 

The person he was talking to scratched his nape and secretly Haku sensed how uneasy Kigaha was. "Ah, well, I haven't gotten to that part of the book. I'm still at page twenty-four, you see—"

"She will continue to weaken as Akumu feeds off of her lifeline. She's still under his control, in case you have to be reminded of. Her loyalty may be on me, but her soul and essence are still attached to him. Unfortunately, there is only one way to save her and even I cannot guarantee that it will work." 

Kigaha pursed his lips. "How is Akumu able to weaken her? She is not even within his grasp."

"Everything is connected, I'm afraid so," Haku uttered as his eyes went back to focusing on Chihiro, who was now standing by the cashier. "With such circumstances, we are left with no choice. I'll contact him once we get to the Spirit World." 

"Eh? You'll contact Akumu?" Kigaha guessed, his eyes widening at what he had just heard. 

Haku exhaled sharply as in a mocking way. "No, I'll contact the other one." 

"The other—Oh. I see. That would be rational." For a moment, it was quiet between them as both men had their thoughts on Sadashi's pitiful situation. "If Chihiro learns about this, well, she'll be heartbroken." 

The river god spun bluntly to the forest god. "We're not going to tell her." 

Kigaha stared at him with disbelief. "What the _fuck_ , Kohaku?" he yelled, earning the attention of onlookers. With a much softer tone, he continued, "Are you seriously kidding me? She'll go crazy if she discovers that we're lying to her." 

"Bold of you to assume I have plans on telling her." 

"She's gonna know sooner or later and trust me, she will get mad at you that you don't tell her. I speak girl code." 

Haku smirked. "Really? Kigaha, I did not know that you were a womanizer. Have you gained that knowledge through dating the yunas in the bathhouse, _hmm_?" 

Kigaha's cheeks glowed pink. "N-No! Just tell her about it while it's not too late." The river spirit's eyebrows formed a bridge and just as he had opened his mouth, Chihiro interrupted them. 

"What are you two talking about?" she asked innocently, handing over their drinks. "And tell me _what_ while it's not too late?" 

Haku really felt like he wanted to punch Kigaha in the nose right then and there. Although he remained unbothered externally, he felt like he was being attacked with a blow torch. He continued to glare at the forest god. 

"Oh, well, Haku was talking about bringing your relationship to the next level," Kigaha chimed as he started drinking his hot chocolate, suddenly having an interest in his shoes. 

The urge to have his fist slam against Kigaha's gut spiked to the point that he had to hide a clenched fist in the pocket of his petticoat. Although if he was in a good mood, he would've thanked Kigaha for the save. 

Chihiro averted Haku's gaze, blushing madly as she took a sip from her drink. "That won't be necessary," she responded bitterly. "He's always trying to get me in the mood every day." 

"H-Hey!" He pouted, trying hard not to look embarrassed or Kigaha would start teasing them more. His two other companions exchanged looks before laughing. 


	15. Chapter 15: In Which She Hears the Dreaded Prophecy

**SHE COULDN'T HELP BUT PACE BACK** and forth as it was time to hear the prophecy. What would it be about? She had waited for this moment, however, she was starting to get reluctant to hear it. If it was bad—for sure, it was— then she would be very disappointed. But that was just life; an endless loop of displeasure and regret.

Chihiro was by the balcony once again, which had become her favorite spot ever since she arrived here. The scenery around her enveloped her with overwhelming emotions that she couldn't imagine feeling by just looking at the skyline from a building. Haku was in the living room, watching her if he wasn't tinkering on his phone. Apparently, he had a phone.

She suspected that he must have been in the Human World before and very recently if he knew what a smartphone and television were. She had offered him assistance in using it, although he turned it down and reassured her that he could navigate through it without her help.

Of course, the possibility that Sadashi had taught him how to use it was also there. He could be lying and only had the spirit teach him how the world works so he wouldn't look like a fool. She brushed the thought from her head and turned the windows, watching him use his phone. He looked up momentarily and winked at her, which she responded with a nervous smile.

The doorbell rang a few moments later and Haku answered it. She spotted Kigaha walking to the living room as they escorted a tall lady. Tamotsu and Sadashi were nowhere to be found. Chihiro assumed that the unfamiliar face was Ekisha, although it confused her since she had imagined the seer very differently.

Ekisha had light blue hair which Chihiro assumed was just dye and not her natural hair color. The seer was very beautiful, but only if she showed emotion. Her face didn't seem to register any emotions and looked very empty. Chihiro was not sure if she was dreaming but she swore she caught a yellow glint in the goddess's eyes. The goddess wore a long gray petticoat and not extravagant godly clothing so she wouldn't blow her cover, the human figured.

She got back inside the room, trying not to show that she was trembling intensely. All of them looked at her with concern as she was pretty much just frozen by the door. She gave them the fakest of her smiles and sat down with them, her limbs still shaking.

Ekisha nodded her head slightly to acknowledge Chihiro. "We finally meet, Chihiro Ogino," she spoke monotonously, almost like a robot. She turned to the rest and motioned for them to remain silent. "I am here because you are to hear the prophecy. Do you have a subtle idea of how I will feed you this information?"

Chihiro shook her head. "No, my lady."

Ekisha nodded once again before crossing her hands on her lap. "You will hold my hand and you will fall asleep. The prophecy will come to you in a dream since that's how it works, preventing enemies from overhearing and altering whatever is written there. I'll give you time to relax since I see you are trembling quite a bit." A small smile formed on her lips.

Chihiro let out a shaky laugh before taking deep breaths. She concentrated on her breathing, trying to conceal her anxiety. When she calmed down, she nodded at Ekisha. Since the goddess was seated across her, she had to sit on the edge of her seat to reach her hands. Once they linked hands, Chihiro felt herself becoming drowsy, her vision gradually turning black as her eyelids closed.

When she opened her eyes, she was alone inside a dark room that was only lit by single candlelight. She looked around but couldn't see much. She felt the hair on her arms stand as she heard a door creaking open and light entered the room. "Come, Chihiro Ogino. Come and hear the prophecy," she heard Ekisha's voice whisper from outside the door.

The human got up from her seat, cautiously walking across the room and outside it. There was a hallway and she couldn't see much despite the light that illuminated it since there was mist everywhere. The mist smelled like honey and it kind of eased her tension. She continued to walk down the hallway and stopped before an open door.

"Go inside," Ekisha whispered once again. Chihiro obliged, stepping inside and hearing the door shut almost immediately behind her. Mist enveloped the room, however this time, it smelled like the forest. Then she heard a low-pitched voice that definitely did not belong to Ekisha.

_"In the battle of good and evil, two must work to defeat the invincible,  
There will be an unexpected twist that no one will perceive,  
As the mortal will perish in the hands of the evil,   
And the immortal will avenge her and defeat the despicable,   
Together, they will use the strongest power,  
And overthrow he who is unconquerable."_

The light started to seep inside the room until only Chihiro could see was white. Her eyes immediately threw open and she stood up so immediately that her head started to hurt. She collapsed into the floor, gasping for air. Kigaha immediately ran from his seat and helped her up into the chair, trying to calm Chihiro down.

Ekisha stared at Chihiro with sadness in her eyes. "My child, remember that the prophecy could be very unpredictable. After all, it is just a prophecy. However, you must not take it lightly."

Chihiro swallowed a huge lump in her throat. She didn't respond to the goddess as she was still very much speechless. _The mortal will perish in the hands of evil,_ the prophecy echoed inside her head. She felt like wanting to throw up. Was she really going to die in battle?

 _The mortal is not you,_ Hideo's voice suddenly interrupted the prophecy. _Things will not be the way you think they will._

Chihiro was scared and overwhelmed, although hearing Hideo put her a little onto ease's side. "I...." She trailed off as the other words didn't seem to push through her throat. Surprisingly, not a single tear escaped her eyes. She mustered up the courage to speak once again, finally saying, "Who is the immortal, then?"

"That, I cannot tell you since neither do I know," Ekisha replied flatly, as she stroked her unnaturally blue hair. "But you must do what you can, my child. Do what you can and save the two worlds from destruction."

Silence overpowered the room for quite a while before the goddess stood up and bowed. All five bowed back. "I must leave," she announced. "I am in danger, thus I must not stay in one place for too long."

"In danger?" Haku asked her, lifting his eyebrow in curiosity. "Who's following you, Ekisha?"

"Nobody," Ekisha muttered sadly, although there was a hint in her voice that she was not telling the truth. "But it is dangerous for me to be here in the Human World. Therefore, I will return to the Spirit World."

Chihiro nodded. "You've got a flight to catch then?"

The goddess shook her head. "Very dangerous if I take that option. I travel through a mist. Now, I must really go." She bowed once again and stepped out of the balcony, turning into mist before evaporating into thin air. Chihiro just sat there, her jaw dropped (except for Haku and Kigaha, who seemed to be used to such bizarre modes of transportation between gods).

Once again, silence overpowered the room. What Ekisha said before her departure made Chihiro disoriented. She tried to maintain a completely straight face, although she noticed her eyebrows were scrunching together the deeper she thought. Didn't Haku say that godly powers didn't work in the Human World?

In fact, this wasn't the first time that she had seen godly powers used. Hideo had done it back in Tokyo, disappearing into thin air before Chihiro. Ekisha had also done it as well. Perhaps they had drunk the potion that would temporarily grant them powers. That or it could be due to the fact that they had a much wider domain. Haku was only a river god and Kigaha ruled over a forest that was thousands of miles away from where they were right now. It made sense.

So Hideo wasn't just an ordinary god? She remembered the story she heard when she returned to the bathhouse. Hideo would judge and sort souls to where they would stand in the afterlife based on how good or bad they were in their previous life. Would it be safe to assume that he was the god of the Underworld? Maybe she could ask Ichika when they meet again.

"How's Sadashi doing? Have you checked on her?" she asked Kigaha, sighing when all he did in return was shake his head. "Can I go check on her?" There was yet again no response from either god. A little fed up, she stood once again but instantly feel back into her chair. Her feet didn't seem to function at the moment, wobbling as if it were composed of jelly.

"You're still weak," Haku mumbled in a bitter tone, crossing his arms and directing his attention at Chihiro's legs. "That seer used most of your energy to have you enter a dreamlike state and deliver a prophecy. Go rest in the bedroom and I'll buy you food."

Kigaha got up from his seat and stretched his limbs. "I'll go see Sadashi and inform you of her current situation," he quickly uttered before turning around and walking out of the room, the sound of the door closing marking his departure.

Haku moved closer to Chihiro and hoisted her off of her seat, one arm under her legs and the other supporting her back. She squirmed, clearly flustered by his actions. "H-Hey, what are you doing, dragon?"

"Carrying you to the bedroom, what else?" he replied flatly, making his way to the bedroom and placing her gently on the bed. She rubbed on sheets beside her, instructing him to lay on it and keep her company. Hesitantly, he did as she wished. "What would you like me to buy for you?"

She wrapped her arms around him and pulled his body closer to him before shaking her head. "I'm not hungry. A nap would do me good," she reassured him, leaving a kiss on his nose. "Just stay here with me."

"Alright." He shifted a little as he put a hand on the back of her head and gently let her head lean on his chest. The warmth of his presence combined with her drowsy state was enough to put her sleep.

This sleep was unlike the previous nights. She was dreaming and definitely not alone. Darkness surrounded her but despite not being able to see, she knew someone else what with her.

"Chihiro," a voice gracefully greeted. "Glad to see you! I was expecting you to communicate with me. I've got exciting news!" She immediately recognized it as Ichika's.

"I was the one you communicated with you?" the human inquired doubtfully. "Isn't it the other way around?"

She heard a small laugh from in front of her. "Oh, it was? It doesn't matter then, I assume. On to the news. I want you to go to the address I'm about to give you."

"You're here?"

"Very much, yes. I'm giving you the serum tomorrow because our time is limited. I was going to wait for you to return, but unfortunately, an unexpected occurrence has happened in the bathhouse. If I don't hand this over to you now, I might not have the chance to do so in the near future."

Chihiro felt her gut stirring inside her. An unexpected occurrence? Was the bathhouse in trouble? All at once, she felt dozens of inquiries circulate her head. She gulped nervously. "What happened?"

Ichika heaved an impatient sigh. "It's Yubaba. I haven't the slightest idea, but it's in serious trouble right now. Or at least, that's what I am sensing. But that will not matter for now. I'm transferring something very important to you tomorrow. Make sure to come alone. What time would be perfect?"

Haku would definitely be suspicious if Chihiro went out early in the morning. Due to Sadashi's pitiful state, they wouldn't be able to do much other than walking around in the nearby buildings. She could talk to Kigaha to distract Haku while she went to Ichika. But what will be her excuse? An idea popped in her head. She could pretend to buy a gift for Haku. Excellent.

"The afternoon would be alright," she supposed, earning an amused laugh from Ichika. "Will it take long?"

"It'll take an hour at most," the goddess before her admitted dryly. "It's a series of shots, but I'll have to sedate you so your veins won't explode when I feed the serum into your bloodstream. If you want, I can explain to you why exactly I gave you the serum after it has been injected."

"Perfect, I've been waiting for that to happen," Chihiro stated sarcastically. "I've been itching to ask, by the way, what kind of god Hideo is?"

"Pardon me?"

"Ah, sorry," she apologized. "What I meant was, how are Hideo and Ekisha able to use their powers in the Human World? I was told that gods are not able to use their powers in this world. So why is it that they can?"

Ichika let out a sound of what seems to be slurping a liquid. "Excuse me, I'm currently sipping my tea. Haku takes after a lot of what I do, especially the tea."

"I've noticed." Chihiro mentally smiled when she remembered what Haku had told her yesterday.

"Funny, is it not? Hold on, where were we?" There was a short pause before Ichika giggled. "Ah, alright. You must have speculated this already, being the clever human you are. In case you haven't, then I'll gladly tell you. Gods in the Human World can have their powers retained if they do not have their souls bound to a certain element of nature. I'll give you an example. Kohaku is the god of the Kohaku river, right?"

Chihiro nodded, although she hummed in reply as well when she remembered that they couldn't see each other in the dark. Ichika went on.

"That river does not flow from the Human World anymore and is solely located in the Spirit World. His leaving the Spirit World would mean that he will be away from the river, where his soul his bound. And without his soul, his powers would not work. Aokigahara, on the other hand, has control when he is in the Human World since his forest runs through both worlds. The catch is that he's only able to use them if he is on land connected to the Aokigahara forest. If he goes to Sapporo, let's say, he'd become powerless.

"As for me, there are cherry blossoms present in Budapest, thus I can freely use my powers. But if I went to Egypt, I'd be very much useless. Ekisha does not have any specific nature bound to her because she is a seer, thus she can use her power anywhere, even in the Under—" She coughed for a while. "Akumu's territory, I mean. The same rule applies to Hideo."

Just as Chihiro was about to throw a follow-up question at the goddess, Ichika cursed under her breath. "You're waking up. Just remember what we've talked about. I'm not sure if you can remember most of what we talked about, after all, humans can't—Whatever. Farewell, Chihiro Ogino."

The light started to fill in and Chihiro realized that she was already awake. The first thing she did was check her phone on her nightstand. It was just three in the afternoon. She sighed in relief. If she had slept too long, she would have a hard time sleeping at night.

She sneaked back to the bed and looked for Haku. He was sleeping soundly, his lips slightly parted and eyelids gracefully closed. Oh, how handsome he looked when he was sleeping. She smiled and stared at the ceiling, waiting for him to wake up.


	16. Chapter 16: In Which She Transforms

**SO THIS IS IT, HUH?** Chihiro thought to herself as she took out the address she had written out on a piece of paper and double-checked the address. She stuffed it in once more inside her pocket and slowly marched into the house. Although she wasn't really nervous, she didn't even know what lay ahead for her. Guess she'll have to find out.

The house looked very well-maintained and anything but suspicious. It could've been an Airbnb. As she was looking around, she heard footsteps from the stairs. She turned around and saw that it was Ichika. The goddess looked very ill. Her skin was paler than Chihiro remembered and her hair just plain blond. Her ethereal glow was no more.

"Whoa," Chihiro muttered the first thing that went inside her head. "What happened to you, my lady?"

Ichika gave her a weak smile as she tightened her grip on the railings of the staircase. "I'll explain myself later. Please come upstairs so we can start." The both of them went up slowly, the goddess groaning with every step she took. Chihiro offered her a hand, but she refused.

Ichika opened the first door to the right and Chihiro shivered to the cold air of the airconditioning unit inside. The room looked very normal, other than the fact that there were several injections and an IV bag between two twin beds. "Sit down, Chihiro," Ichika instructed and Chihiro didn't need to be told again.

The human sat down on one of the beds, taking her petticoat off and setting it on the foot of her bed. Ichika limped to the other bed and started to fumble with the injections, loading it up with some clear fluid. Then she left three injections vacant.

"You have the slightest idea what I am doing?" Ichika spoke with a raspy voice when she noticed the curiosity in Chihiro's eyes. Chihiro shook her head and frowned. "The serum in the IV bag will make you into a goddess, and I'm not even joking, Chihiro."

Chihiro's eyes went wide as she studied Ichika's pale and sunken face. _A goddess?_ "Did I hear that wrong? You're turning me into a goddess?"

"Yes, you heard that right, my dear. We're changing roles."

She blinked. "C-Changing roles? Hold on, I don't understand!"

Ichika didn't say anything in return. Instead, she grabbed one of the injections with the clear liquid and cotton with alcohol in it. "I'm injecting you this liquid right here to prevent your blood vessels from exploding when I put the serum in your bloodstream. Immortal blood is like acid to mortals, so this will act as a layer so the serum doesn't destroy you."

"So the serum...contains immortal blood and other ingredients?"

"My blood, actually. It's most of the blood that I've extracted from my own body. That's partly why I'm weak right now. But that doesn't really matter since I'll be replenishing with human blood once I get back to the Spirit World. I'm very much mortal like you are now, Chihiro."

"How is that possible?" Chihiro asked as she rested her head on the pillows. "If it were that easy, then wouldn't your enemies capture you and just make you mortal?"

Ichika laughed. "It takes more than just. Other than the ingredients, you must have the consent of the goddess of life. If the goddess of life does not consent, it will not work. You can't even blackmail her or try to kill her because she's a freaking disco ball of light. I happened to get very lucky enough to get her consent since we're basically swapping to maintain the balance between the two worlds. Hush now, I will put it in."

She rubbed the cotton on your arm and pushed the needle in you. Chihiro flinched a little, feeling the pain, but it soon subsided when Ichika pulled the needle back out. Chihiro watched as the goddess readied the IV bag, letting it drip a little into a small glass before turning back to the human. She felt for a vein in Chihiro's hand before inserting the needle. Chihiro, having been in and out of the hospital as a child, was brave enough not to cry out in pain when she felt the needle penetrating the back of her hand. Soon enough, Ichika pulled the needle out and covered the part of the dextrose that penetrated Chihiro's skin with cotton and adhesives.

The goddess then went back to sitting on the other bed, coughing from time to time. "You know," she finally said before coughing once more, "you're not supposed to use your powers or show any hint of immortality once you get back. Although surely, Haku will be weirded by your scent. You're going to smell different for sure, that's why I'll have to inject this"—she lifted one of the loaded injections from the table—"to mask your current scent and replace it with that of your previous scent. It's enough to last two months, I hope. If not, then we would be in big trouble."

"Am I really going to be immortal?" Chihiro whispered as she shut her eyes and enjoyed the coolness of the air.

"You can try stabbing yourself later if you want," Ichika joked. "You must know of my powers then, and I will tell you what your mission is. For sure, you are well aware of the prophecy. I dreamt about the line, ' _And the immortal will avenge her and defeat the despicable'_. The prophecy is not clear who the immortal is, but it should be you. And I am the mortal the prophecy speaks of."

"No," Chihiro cried as she shot up the bed. "' _As the mortal will perish in hands of the evil'..._ Ichika!"

Ichika grinned. "Clever, clever you are, my little goddess. You see, I have my reasons. I cannot explain them to you now, but you will know after my death. If you want to know my reasoning, you will not tell anybody about this swapping of blood. You don't want Haku to turn mortal, now do you?"

"Are you protecting him?" Chihiro snapped. "I can't...comprehend things."

Ichika crossed her arms. "I have three powers. I can teleport. You saw me use that one back in the bathhouse. Then I have the power to talk to cherry blossom trees and control them. I'm the one responsible for making them bloom, too, so I leave that to your care. The third is magic—healing magic." She glanced at the IV bag and grinned.

Chihiro studied the now empty IV bag. Ichika got up from the bed, removing the adhesives on Chihiro's hand and pulling out the dextrose. She grabbed another cotton and adhesive and proceeded to cover the hand. "Alright," she declared once she put Chihiro's hand back down. "Come with me."

Ichika led her to the window just outside the stairs. Just outside, Chihiro saw a dead tree and didn't think much of it. "That's a cherry blossom right there," the goddess whispered, tapping on the glass pane before laughing. "Now, in your head, picture this tree blooming, but don't remove your eyes from it."

Chihiro nodded and stared at the tree. It took her a while to formulate a scenario where the tree was blooming flowers. Then it happened. Buds of cherry blossoms appeared in the tree's branches and started to bloom. She gasped, accidentally letting go of the scenario in her head. The flowers all at once fell to the ground below it, scattering and being blown away by the wind outside.

She sharply spun to Ichika, who still had her eyes on the once again dead tree. "You're going to have to practice that a lot when you get back to Spirit World. Now, shall we try your second power?" Without warning, Ichika plunged a dagger into Chihiro's stomach and withdrew it, sending it flying across the floor.

The pain overwhelmed Chihiro. She felt like the life was being sucked out of her body. She glared at the goddess as she coughed up blood. "I-I...."

Ichika knelt to her level and put her arms on Chihiro's shoulders to call her attention. "Close your eyes and imagine your wound healing." Chihiro reluctantly did as she was told, the picture of a huge gash on the stomach popping into her head. She forced the gash to close. When she opened her eyes, she placed a hand on her stomach to feel the gaping hole, but it was no more. The blood that stained her shirt and the carpet was now evaporating into a mist until there was no trace of it.

Chihiro stared wide-eyed at Ichika, who was grinning with amusement. "Bravo. It worked. Now, on to the last power. Are you ready?"

Honestly, Chihiro just wanted to slap Ichika for trying to kill her. She knew it was for demonstration, but could the goddess—ex-goddess-— have considered the chance that Chihiro was unable to complete her task? What if things had not gone the way it was? What would be of both of them? Thoughts aside, Chihiro nodded, not wanting to say anything hurtful to Ichika.

Ichika's face lit up in an instant as if she was not ill. "Alright. This one's very simple, yet difficult at the same time." _What on earth?_ Chihiro thought, _Was that just contradicting?_ She decided to participate so things could end quickly. "It's teleportation, but you can only do it when there's a cherry blossom tree in a five-kilometer radius. It's pretty useless, don't you think?"

"I think it would be very handy in situations," Chihiro admitted impatiently, hinting how she was aching to leave this place. "Please teach me."

Ichika chuckled lightly before clasping her hands together. "Alright then. Close your eyes. First, you must make sure you have a specific destination in mind. You should at least know what it looks like, or a landmark; otherwise it will not work. If this destination does not have a cherry blossom tree within a five-kilometer radius, you will be transported to the nearest possible cherry blossom tree. You're getting the principle?"

Chihiro nodded slowly, processing what the goddess had just said. So basically, she wouldn't be able to use this to transport herself into Akumu's territory. _Quite useless,_ she thought drily, although she could be wrong.

"Are you ready?"

"What about that odor-blocking serum you wanted to inject into my bloodstream?"

Ichika blinked, showing that she had forgotten about that. "Oh right. Before you take it, know that it will decrease your stamina, therefore, if you are put in an awful situation, you might not be able to respond well. Still want to take the risk?"

 _Why did you even offer it in the first place, then?_ Chihiro thought deeply, previously wanting to say it out loud, just to try and press Ichika's buttons. She closed her eyes and thought of the hotel—what it looked like from the exterior and maybe the balcony... No. She just couldn't show up empty-handed. She had informed Kigaha of her whereabouts and if she shows up without a gift, it would raise suspicion.

 _Transport me nearby, I suppose._ She felt herself become lighter as if she was being lifted off of her feet. There was a light breeze, similar to the one she first felt from her purple hair tie when she came back to the Spirit World. It continued for a moment and when it died down, she opened her eyes. She was no longer in the house; instead, she was standing in front of the hotel. There were no people around which was a relief. She didn't want to confuse anyone.

She searched for a nearby shopping place near the hotel and went on with buying a gift for Haku.


	17. Chapter 17: In Which She Comes Back to a Hotheaded God

**HAKU WAS PACKING UP** when Chihiro got back to the hotel room. All her plans to surprise him with the matching rings she bought were basically foiled the moment she got inside the room. She turned the corner and was face to face with an angry god. Although he did look much hotter with that, she definitely did not want to deal with someone who looked like he was about to slap her. _Hopefully, he wouldn't stab me with a knife, as his mother did,_ she jokingly thought. 

"Where were you?" he crossly queried with a tone that sent shivers down her spine. "Kigaha told me you were going to buy something... Is that it?" He pointed at the paper bag she had hidden behind you. 

She tried her best impression to look flustered—not because she was about to lie about her true whereabouts, rather that he had discovered the gift. It was one of the diversions you've thought about on the way up. The other was spraying the perfume you had bought all over you to hopefully mask your scent. "A-Ah, that's nothing!" she nervously responded, although she had transferred the paper bag to own of her hands. If she had hidden it behind her back, he would've leaned into her to grab it, increasing the possibility that he would smell her scent of cherry blossoms. 

He glanced from Chihiro to the paper bag and back to her before arching an eyebrow. "I know you're lying, Chihiro. You do know how bad you look when you lie. Also, that scent... why do I smell something entirely new from you?" 

She felt a lump in her throat. _Shit, he caught me,_ she cursed in her head. Her eyes were wide, unable to contain her shocked state. In her mind, she was preparing a script for both Haku and Ichika in case he blew her cover. 

Haku leaned closer to her and she heard him sniff her. Her breath involuntarily hitched in response. "Why are you—" she started, only to be cut short by him.

"Is that perfume? You smell like an expensive perfume. Also, I'm assuming those are rings. Seriously, how dense can you be?" 

_You're the dense one,_ she mentally yelled. _On the plus side, I haven't blown my cover yet._

Haku then headed into the room, leading you to a chaotic sight of open luggage and clothes littered everywhere. "We have to leave tonight," he explained when he noticed how shocked you were at all the mess. "Lin sent me a special message, indicating that the bathhouse is under attack. Unfortunately, the protection spell I cast wasn't able to withstand whoever tampered with it. I've my thoughts on who the culprit is." 

"What? Who?" 

He gazed at you quickly before redirecting his attention to his luggage, stuffing his clothes neatly into it. "The enemy, of course. But I'm sure it's my brother who did the tampering. That cunning little _bastard_ knows too much." 

Chihiro frowned as she leaned against the closet. "Are there casualties? Obviously, Lin must be alright if she sent the letter, but—"

"Yubaba's dead," Haku spat out like the words had a bad taste in his mouth. "That old hag; she died protecting her fortune. I told her years ago that her avarice could lead to her death. Still, she didn't listen. I bet she even tried to desperately bribe them. Obviously, the enemy did not want her stupid fortune, after all , what is her fortune compared to the tremendous power one can hold when he or she has total control over the two worlds?" She thought he heard demise in his tone, but she could be imagining things. 

"So where is Lin now?" she asked.

"I sent her, Boh, and Kamaji to my home by my river. I've asked Zeniba and Fujiroshi to come too. As for Ichika... she's unreachable."

Chihiro gulped.

She nodded slowly. "I've everything in my luggage, so there's no need for me to be packing like crazy. So... how's Sadashi doing?" 

He grimaced. "She dosed on some of the potions I made, but that's not enough to heal her. She has a peculiar sickness, you see—one that only those of her kind can contract." 

"What do you mean?" she questioned with a painfully quiet voice. "Those of _her_ kind?"

"In case you didn't remember," he began after a long pause, "she is a resurrected human soul whose primary purpose is to serve Hideo. Remove that and she will basically diminish and fade into dust. It's surprising that she's been disintegrating painfully slow, showing no signs of it at all even after years of service to me. That's why I believe she's a spy." 

She stared at him with confusion. Her best friend, the enthusiastic Sadashi... was a spy? She couldn't believe it. Never had it crossed her mind that Sadashi wasn't on the same side as her. Was he saying that all the memories she made and the time she spent with Sadashi... was all but a lie? She refused to believe it.

"How do you know this?" Chihiro asked with a frown. "And if she was, why did you let her serve you?"

Haku remained quiet for a while, almost as if he did not hear her saying anything. Just as she was about to repeat it, he interrupted her and sternly spoke, "I heard it loud and clear. It's a mere theory. I'm not even certain if it's reality. But if her lifeline is tied to Hideo, then one possible reason that she has only now weakened is that she was working for him too all this time. She must have refused Hideo's latest proposal and that's why he's tormenting her by slowly detaching himself from her so she will lose her purpose."

"You mean... s-she... she's going to die?" 

Haku's expression was enough to answer the question. He lowered his head back to his luggage, continuing to pack as if nothing had happened between the two of you. "If we don't do anything at all, then I believe so, yes."

Chihiro felt herself trembling, unable to believe what reality was. She tried to blink back her tears and prevent herself from breaking down. "If Hideo resides in Akumu's territory, then how do you suppose we bring Sadashi to him?"

"I'm not sure yet, but we'll figure it out on the way. Judging by how ill she is, she'll have two weeks before her soul turns into a heap of ashes. Right now, we have a much larger problem at hand—the bathhouse."

"Can I meet her then?"

"I believe as of the moment, no. Kigaha is still interrogating her," he replied with a monotonous voice. 

Chihiro's eyebrows furrowed. "How are you sure that Kigaha's on your side too?"

Haku tapped on his temple. "I'm listening to their interrogation with telepathy."

"If I can't trust most people then what makes you any different?" The way Chihiro delivered it was with pride and no sign of hesitation. She didn't feel any kind of reluctance from even afterward. If she was to question her trust with everyone, then that would include him, right? What if he was the one she shouldn't be trusting? Haku wasn't likely to betray her; he loved her. Yet, how could she be sure that they were on the same page? 

Visibly hurt, his back on her, abandoning his packing for a moment to stare out the window. "I don't know," he quietly muttered. "That's a very good question. It is up to you if you want to trust me, or not. I'll be fine with either of which, to be frank. I mean, who am I to force something on someone who doubts me, right?" 

"I-I'm sorry," she apologized, immediately feeling guilt creep up to scold her for being insensitive. "I was joking, in case you didn't—"

Haku spun around abruptly and marched to her, grabbing onto her shoulders firmly as his eyes stared into her soul. She gulped, widening her eyes. "Well honestly, I don't care if it was a joke, Chihiro. That was _fucking_ insensitive. I can't believe you're doubting me. It has to be _you_ out of all people, _goddamn it_!" he shouted, his voice cracking. 

They stared at each other with such intensity for a while, before she felt his grip on her loosen. He turned around once again, walking back to his luggage to continue packing. She just froze in place for a moment, silently begging whoever the god of time was to rewind this moment and allow her to change whatever she said to him. 

The moment she stepped forward to approach him, the doorbell rang. She flinched, although she took the opportunity to bolt for the door, greeting the forest god who was standing in front of her. "Hello, Chihiro," Kigaha greeted her with a grin. "How was the surprise?" 

Chihiro scrunched her eyebrows, looking down at her feet. That was enough for him to know that things weren't fine between the couple. "I see," he slowly muttered, pursing his lips. "I've something to discuss between you and Haku if you let me in." 

Whispering a sad sorry, she stepped out of the way to lead him to the room, where she let him sit on the couches. The river god immediately stopped packing to acknowledge Kigaha, shooting her a piercing cold stare. "So... what did you find out about Sadashi?" Chihiro inquired, taking a seat in front of Kigaha. 

He heaved a short sigh, promptly followed by his reply. Her health is restored, although of course, that's a transient thing. The effect of the potions is much similar to caffeine on humans—lasting for only a short while. I saved the last bottle for her to drink before we go. That should give her enough strength to last until we arrive in Japan. As for after that, I guess we'll have fate decide."

"There's a drawback to my potions, however. When the potion wears off, she'll become even much weaker than she was," Haku added, looking at Kigaha before staring at Chihiro. "I'd say she'd have two more weeks until she turns into a heap of ashes." 

She frowned. "Don't we have anything to do to save her? Are we really going to watch her disappear?" Kigaha and Haku exchanged looks of remorse. She took that as a no for her first question. Slowly, she felt an aching in her chest. _So this is it, huh?_

Luckily, Kigaha answered her questions before she could even have the time to breakdown. "We could send her back to Hideo and negotiate with him. Not sure how he will react to that, but there's a high chance that he'll reject the offer and fight us."

"Lin and I will go," Haku boldly settled, getting up from the floor and sitting next to Chihiro. "The two of you will stay at the new base and make sure that nothing goes wrong. I have a feeling they'll attack once I leave the base. The least we could do is lessen the damage. Zeniba and Kamaji will hopefully be there, too." 

"Kamaji didn't make it." There were mixed reactions to that statement—Haku grimacing and Chihiro gathering all her strength to prevent herself from breaking down. Kamaji... was dead? She hasn't even seen the old man since her arrival, and now her chances to meet him was absolutely zero. A pang of regret bit into her as millions of tiny voices whispered into her head reminding her of her insecurities. 

Haku exhaled sharply. "How about Boh? How is he coping with the loss?" 

Kigaha shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "Zeniba's most likely consoling him. Lin's leading all of the survivors to the new base, so we might have to hurry. If only we could teleport out of here." 

Chihiro gulped. She was itching to tell them that she could teleport. Would she rather disappoint Ichika or save her friends? _Fuck Ichika,_ said one voice in her head, most likely the demon. _What harm can a human do, Chihiro?_ She didn't want to go to Ichika's bad side, though. She felt like she shouldn't underestimate an ex-goddess. 

She decided not to, hoping she wouldn't regret her decision later on.

But boy, was she _wrong_.


	18. Chapter 18: In Which She Learns a Dangerous Secret

**CHIHIRO DECIDED SHE HAD** had enough of flying for a while by the time they reached Haku's river. Almost a day of travel was already too much for her, but when she heard that Haku was going to fly them to his river, she felt like she wanted to give up on life. For the whole ride, the urge to vomit spiked, although she had managed to control herself. Oh, had she wished she had switched places with Sadashi, who was now unconsciously lying on Kigaha's lap. It took a good hour before Haku descended to a quite large river before them. He safely managed to land by the banks, where a camp was set up. There was a huge house on the other side of the river, which was crossable using the bridge near the camp.

Lin was the first to approach them, bowing down before the gods before her face grimaced. "I am glad you have returned earlier than expected. Zeniba and Lord Fujiroshi have just arrived, actually. And... wait. _What's that smell?"_ She then proceeded to sniff the air, her nose wrinkling as she stared at Chihiro.

Chihiro trembled as Lin approached her and began to sniff her. "Oh, jeez, why do you smell like cherry blossoms?" the weasel spirit teased with a sly look on her face. "Didn't know you wear perfume that smelled really good."

"Shouldn't you be able to sniff her human scent, Lin?" Haku sternly asked as he arched an eyebrow at her. "I can't smell anything. The Human World must've desensitized my ability to smell. It should take a few days to get back."

Lin just laughed. " _Oh_ , I do. The awful smell is mixing with such a heavenly scent that it hurts my nose." Chihiro caught her eye and for a split second, she thought that Lin was looking at her with pure suspicion. Could she have known that something was off with Chihiro? The look immediately evaporated from her face, changing into a softer look. "I'll take Sadashi to the infirmary. Do you mind if Chihiro comes?"

Kigaha and Haku exchanged looks while Tamotsu's breath hitched. "Not at all," the river god solemnly replied. "Us four gods should be performing a protection charm over the base. That way, it'll be much—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute, you gecko!" Lin interrupted hotly as she crossed her arms. "Four? There are only _three_ of you in here. You, Kigaha, and Fujiroshi."

Kigaha gaped. "Ichika isn't here? Do you know where she is?"

Lin snorted. "Beats me. According to Haku's father—"

"He's not _my_ father," Haku snapped, baring his teeth at Lin, who only waved her hand to dismiss him.

"Anyway, according to Fujiroshi, she's been missing for quite a while now. To where she went, he doesn't have the slightest idea. The only lead we have is a bottle of odor-masking serum." At the sound of that, Chihiro almost flinched. She remembered that serum and how she had almost let Ichika inject that to her bloodstream. "I don't know why she has that, but she's most likely plotting something we may not like."

 _More like already had,_ Chihiro thought drily as she watched Haku, Kigaha, and Tamotsu walk away. Sadashi had been loaded to a makeshift stretcher, carried away by a few spirits, so it was just Chihiro and Lin standing by the river. There were a few minutes of silence between them before the weasel spirit beckoned for the newly-appointed cherry blossom goddess to follow her into the house. She was led to a room upstairs, which seemed to be where Chihiro will be staying, she assumed based on the bag that sat on the dresser.

"This'll be your place," Lin softly said before sitting down on the bed. "So, I want you to tell me the truth, Chihiro. What happened?" She stared at the cherry blossom goddess with her piercing eyes.

It was a good thing that Chihiro had prepared for this moment while on the plane. She had rehearsed possible lines and gestures to make her seem oblivious and innocent. She didn't flinch and instead, only blinked at Lin with stupefaction. "What do you mean?" she asked with a plain voice. "Haku and I are dating, that's something."

Lin growled in irritation. "That is not what I meant!" she whined. "Why do you smell like a flower goddess? That certainly isn't perfume I'm smelling." She leaned forward and sniffed Chihiro once again.

"I'm not sure what you mean," the cherry blossom goddess stated in an unsuspectingly calm voice. "I don't remember how it happened but... I remember just reappearing in our hotel without knowing where I previously was." She even stared straight into Lin's eyes accompanied a remorseful look to make it seem like she was speaking of the truth.

The other party seemed to be convinced, widening her eyes and knitting her eyebrows. "Well then, if you remember, tell me immediately," she sternly ordered before reaching out to pat Chihiro's shoulder. "Right now, we have to talk about you and Haku... and Sadashi as well. Or should I go first and explain to you what happened back in the bathhouse?"

Chihiro did not respond verbally, only pointing to Lin to indicate that she wanted the spirit to go first. The spirit took the hint and started with, "A week ago... or was it more than that? I've lost track of time. Anyway, not long ago, while I was hanging the laundry, I spotted a badger spirit try to cross the protective barrier Haku made for the bathhouse. I wasn't sure what happened next, but I had my eyes on it the whole time, which was bad, because the next thing I knew, the bathhouse was on fire. I redirected my focus back on the badger, but it was gone. I figured it must have been some kind of distraction."

"Distraction using some random creature playing dumb?" Chihiro repeated, scrunching her eyebrows. "That's, like, level one of ninja moves."

Lin ignored her foolish remark. "The intruders attacked Yubaba first. Stupid witch, she still tried to protect her own fortune. I don't know exactly what happened since, at that time, I was going down the ladder next to the room I was in, but before I knew it, the whole top floor had exploded. I actually thought for some time that the residents of Yubaba's quarters didn't make it, but I was quite stunned when I saw Yubird carrying tiny mouse Boh down the top floor. Apparently, I heard that the vent that connects Yubaba with the boiler room had been doused with gasoline, so when the fire got there, it could've fried Kamaji."

Upon hearing that, Chihiro's heart sank. To be reminded that Kamaji was no longer existent pierced her soul. It made her hate herself for not thinking of visiting the old man when she had the time. He definitely did not deserve to have his life ended just like that.

" _Could've_ fried?" she questioned. "You mean, you're not sure about his death yet?"

Lin nodded. "Quite. After all, we haven't ventured back into the rubbles of the bathhouse since the incident took place. All I heard are mere testimonies of onlookers saying they witnessed the boiler room go up in flames. Of course, I'm not the type to believe without having a look at it myself. That's why I'm leaving it to Kigaha and Fujiroshi to check the place out." 

"If Kamaji did survive, then wouldn't he have gone to you?" 

Lin snorted, an unamused smile playing on her lips. "Easy for you to say. He could have been abducted by the enemy for all we know. Besides, we made our escape without checking for survivors. And hey, take this with a grain of salt. Until we're not certain of anything, we should let the topic off of our heads first. Right now, we're only more than month away from war, so we should focus on tactics and strategies. Too bad Sadashi added herself to our problems." 

Chihiro furrowed her eyebrows. "Then the idea that Yubaba could still be alive isn't too far-fetched, right?" Even though she disliked Yubaba with a passion, it was still probable that she too was abducted. 

"Children don't lie, dear. Boh himself saw everything. Don't doubt what he sees. Although... I'll give you points for your deduction. It's not far-fetched." The weasel spirit then motioned for Chihiro to talk. "So, I'm aching to hear from you." 

The cherry blossom goddess stared at her lap. "I met Hideo when we were walking around Tokyo." 

"Hideo?" Lin muttered his name with horror in her voice. "Go on." 

"Lin, I don't think he's as bad as you guys think he is. I know you're going to call me insane or an absolute bonehead, but hear me out on this." Chihiro then paused, trying to recall her meeting with Hideo, before continuing her story. She told her about the prophecy as well to clear out any confusion. Lin's eyes grew wider with every word that came out of her mouth. 

"No, you're _senile!"_ Lin whispered, obviously mortified. "If you're not the mortal... then you're the immortal? Wait, no, it could also mean that it isn't even your prophecy. Oh jeez, give me a break from all this prophecy bullshit. _Defeat him and set us free?_ He could be on our side, then" —She shot up from the bed and began pacing back and forth the room— "it'll be much easier for us to negotiate with him on Sadashi. Of course, it could just be a setup. We should still remain vigilant at all times and be skeptical about everything." 

Lin then walked back to the bed and brought her face close to Chihiro before asking, "Did you and Haku _fuck_?" 

"No!" the other girl defended, clearly baffled by her blunt choice of words. "I-I mean, almost but Sadashi stopped us a couple of times. Not that I wanted to but... it's too early for that." 

Lin pinched one of Chihiro's blushing cheeks. "Oh, that hormonal dragon. Nothing's too early when you're at war, Chihiro. At any time, anyone could die. And he's probably just preparing to sacrifice..." she faltered, coughing uncontrollably and excusing herself. 

"Sacrifice _what,_ Lin? What is it that you are not telling me?" Whatever the weasel spirit was about to say, Chihiro knew it was not good. "Lin!" she said in a much louder and demanding voice. 

Lin just stared at her feet. "You didn't hear anything, Chihiro. This conversation is over. I feel sick. You should go and rest up. A meeting will commence tonight." She swiftly walked out of the door, not even a flinch of hesitation in her as she closed it behind her. 

Chihiro heaved a stressed sigh, rolling over to her back as she fumbled with the necklace Haku gave her. Why did Lin mention a sacrifice, and why wasn't Haku telling her anything? Just what was going on?


	19. Chapter 19: In Which She Faces the Cursed

**WHEN CHIHIRO VISITED SADASHI** in the infirmary an hour before the said meeting, she didn't expect to find the spirit to be conscious. If the former would have to guess, the latter had been up for a while now since the forest god was once again interrogating her. _Poor Sadashi,_ she thought with pity. Although she knew it was for their sake, it was a little inhumane to bombard a sick—and _dying_ person with so many questions at a time. Then again, neither of them were human.

She walked over to Sadashi's bed, momentarily stopping Kigaha halfway through his speech. He stared at her with his mouth hanging open, clearly distraught. Chihiro took a seat beside him, before promising, "Don't mind me, I won't interrupt."

He seemed reluctant to continue so it took a few more moments of silence before he got back to what he was saying. "As I was saying..." He went on, Chihiro not being able to catch up with what he was saying.

She turned to Sadashi, who was looking at her with weak and drained-looking eyes. Her lips were chapped, dark circles formed underneath her eyes and she looked very pale... almost lifeless. Part of her felt sorry while the other was busy convincing herself that Sadashi was a traitor.

"What was Hideo's last proposal to you?" Chihiro immediately snapped out of her thoughts to listen to what Sadashi was going to say.

There was silence before Sadashi responded in a raspy voice, "For the last time, I stand by my words; that I am, in no way, associated with Hideo. You can inject a truth serum in my bloodstream and I will still tell you the same."

Kigaha knitted his eyebrows. "Then why on Earth are you disintegrating?"

"Maybe... he loves me," Sadashi whispered under her breath, although the other two still heard her. "He..."

"That's bullshit!" he boomed as he placed a hand on his temple in frustration. "You're retarded for thinking—"

"Kigaha," Chihiro interrupted, suddenly forgetting that she had no authority to speak, "if you step away from your contract from the gods of the Under—"

"Don't say it," he grumbled.

"...Er, that realm, then. But yes, if the contract is nullified, will the spirit automatically disintegrate? Kamaji told me that without a purpose, the soot balls that work under him go back to being useless heaps of ashes."

His eyebrow shot up abruptly. "What's your point, Chihiro?"

"What I'm implying is, what if Hideo actually made a different contract for Sadashi so she didn't have to obey his orders? This contract shouldn't be specifically targeted to our destruction, no. Instead, he gave her one huge request that she's been following for the last few years, and only now did she refuse to accept it? Like... 'forget your feelings for me, that's your last mission.' Or it could be that Hideo just tied her lifeline to him without any contract, but he's in danger, so that's why Sadashi's suffering too?"

Amidst her long and very pointless speech, she watched Sadashi's eyes grow wide when she mentioned the ' _forget your feelings for me_ ' line. "You must have hit the bullseye," Kigaha muttered as he smirked at Sadashi, whose pale cheeks were now tinted with red. "How'd you figure that out?"

Chihiro shrugged. "Didn't she say, 'Maybe he loves me' earlier? I just associated it with that. Can't believe you weren't able to deduce that."

The forest god turned pink and averted his gaze to somewhere else. " _Oh_ , shut it, will you?" he hissed before clearing his throat. "Alright, what time is it?"

Both of them glanced at the clock on the wall opposite them. 5:49 pm, it read. Kigaha sighed, getting up from his chair and calling a nearby spirit to watch Sadashi. Then he led you outside the infirmary and back into the house, where you entered some room somewhere around the lobby.

Heads turned as soon as they entered, stirring anxiety in Chihiro. Everyone was gathered around a round table, looking pretty serious and only in for business. She sat between Lin and Kigaha, just across Fujiroshi, Zeniba, and Haku. No Face was standing in the corner of the room, slouching just by the door. The room went quiet for a while before Zeniba started mumbling incoherent words.

"A silencing spell," Kigaha whispered into Chihiro's ear, gaining Haku's glower at him. "Just in case anyone thinks of snooping on us." She nodded, avoiding the river god's jealous eyes.

When Zeniba was finished casting the spell, Fujiroshi then cleared his throat very loudly, jolting Chihiro in her seat. Of course, what could she expect from a tall man with an intimidating look? He had quite a slim frame and looked about to be in his late 30s, with white hair that looked to be just slightly above his waist. "We're gathered here today to discuss some important matters, one of which will be the disappearance of Lady Ichika," he announced in a very low voice.

She started to tremble at the sound of her name being announced to the whole room. Part of her felt guilty and responsible for the former cherry blossom goddess's disappearance, even though it wasn't her fault at all. She grabbed the teacup in front of her and started drinking as she continued to listen to the mountain god speak.

"Without Ichika, it will be a suicide mission to attack Akumu with our original plan," he went on, causing her to become even more uncomfortable. She tried not to show any emotion, which was quite easy when you're sipping tea. "Thus, we may have to think of other strategies to bring down Akumu Kage. Once Haku and Lin have returned from their mission to revive Sadashi, we will once again discuss such matters." He turned to Haku and urged him to talk.

The river god nodded once. "My Lord," he started with a stern voice, "the negotiation will take place the day after tomorrow. It's not just a mere bargain, however. We plan on gathering more information from Hideo so we can deliberate on an alternative attack strategy on Akumu. Hopefully, it will go well and Hideo doesn't turn the tables and try to murder us."

Fujiroshi shut his blue eyes, heaving a sigh of relief. "As much as I want to discuss this more with you, Haku, I believe we do not have time to elaborate on this matter. Our time is limited; and by sunrise, Kigaha and I will travel to the dreaded bathhouse to search for more survivors... and look for a fallen foe." Chihiro figured that he was referring to Kamaji. Just remembering the old man's name made her feel like a failure and a disappointment.

"Is Yubaba actually...?" Kigaha started to ask, although he wavered when he met Zeniba's stare. "So then..."

"Unfortunately, what was cast on her was a death spell," she replied, followed by a number of groans and gasps from the table and a quizzical look from Chihiro. "Usually, it's only enough to paralyze someone temporarily, but whoever cast the spell must be very powerful that one cast of the spell was enough to kill a witch. It could be the Dark Lord himself" —she glanced sideways at Haku— "or his right hand, Hideo." At the mention of the name, Haku flinched, momentarily losing his composure.

Kigaha then held his hand to Chihiro's direction and urged, "Chihiro has met Hideo while we were in the Spirit World. May I request that you tell them?"

An imaginary lump formed in her throat as she brought her hands down from the tabletop and set it on her lap. She felt so many eyes on her, more than what she felt was comfortable. With a swallow, she told them what she had remembering Hideo telling her.

"...So I think he could be siding with us," she finished, exchanging glances with Kigaha and Lin.

The room went silent for a few seconds before Fujiroshi started coughing. "I see," he muttered plainly as he poured more tea into his cup. "However, a rule in survival is to leave room for doubts. Isn't that a classic rule in Science? When you measure something, it isn't always precise, thus you should leave some uncertainty to it. You could apply that rule to this situation, perhaps."

Chihiro nodded incredulously. "I understand. I'm not saying that we should trust him completely. I'm only stating something he told me so you could evaluate it in a different light. Many perspectives are better than one."

"That's quite wise of you," Zeniba praised, flashing a warm smile at her. "You have certainly learned a lot. And yes, we will not take that lightly and will discuss it some other time. This leads us to who's in charge, now that Ichika is missing."

 _Ichika was supposed to be the leader?_ Chihiro figured at the back of her head. _So that's why the original plan was canceled._

Kigaha bowed at Fujiroshi. "Lord Fujiroshi, we ask for you to lead us in this war. You are the oldest and the most powerful one in the group, thus we ask of you nothing but your guidance and leadership."

The mountain god didn't move or show any sign that he was impressed, only sipping his tea casually. "I'm impressed," he mumbled before turning to Haku. "But I think there is someone who will lead us much better than I will. Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi, I appoint you as the commander of the Imperial Army. Do you accept?"

Haku shot up his seat and bowed so low he almost hit Zeniba with his head. "I do and I promise not to disappoint you." He sat back down slowly, still savoring the words Fujiroshi threw at him. He caught Chihiro looking at him, winking at her and causing her cheeks to heat up. She instantly looked away and focused on her teacup.

The meeting went on for another hour, with Lin and Fujiroshi mostly being the ones who were talking. Chihiro glanced sideways at Haku, checking to see if he was still listening, surprised to see that he had his eyes closed, his hand propped, and his cheek resting on his palm. Nobody seemed to notice except her, as all of them were busy listening to what Lin had to say about the food supply in the camp.

Soon enough, the meeting was over. As everyone filed out of the room, Chihiro stayed behind, waiting for Haku to wake up. She just sat there for fifteen minutes, drumming her fingers impatiently against the table, in hopes that the vibrations would wake him up, but to no avail.

"H-Haku?" she softly muttered as she bent forward and reached her hand out to pat his back. "It's over."

He stirred a little, then repeated what she said drowsily before his eyelids flew open and he jumped out of his seat. _"W-What?_ You're breaking up with me?" he yelled, his expression showing how mortified he was.

Chihiro couldn't help but laugh at how afraid he looked before walking forward to hit his side with a playful smack. "Silly boy," she giggled as she placed her hands on his shoulder. "The meeting I mean. Jeez, you have an attention span of a toddler."

"Well, it's boring," he admitted, his face turning red. "Admit it, you were also dozing off."

She left a peck on his cheek before walking away from him. "Come on, let's eat," she offered as she held her hand out, which he gladly took, letting her lead him to wherever she wanted.


	20. Chapter 20: In Which She Agrees to Be His

**AT DAWN, KIGAHA AND** Fujiroshi set out to the bathhouse, taking No Face with them in case they needed back up—or most likely because he insisted on coming. Chihiro watched them from the balcony of her room as she combed her hair. Kigaha caught her looking at him and waved with a smile plastered on his face before he heaved himself on a brown horse, No Face climbing right behind him. Fujiroshi took another horse, which was white, very much like his hair.

After fiddling with their reins for a while, the mountain god took off, his companions closely following behind. She watched as they disappeared into the dense forest before her. By now, the sun was halfway up. She had slept during the night even if she tried not to, but when she learned that Kigaha and Haku had been resting, she decided to follow suit.

To be honest, she wanted to sleep right beside him, although she would often have her plans foiled whenever she'd attempt to go through the corridor. _The spirits here may be able to smell me,_ she thought the first time she stepped out the corridor and a spirit stopped in front of her to take a sniff. She knew from then on that she had to be even more cautious.

By now, spirits would have been asleep, so it would be safe to assume that Chihiro could finally make his way to Haku's room. From what she had learned, his room was located at the very end of the corridor—the room with the double doors. _Much to imitate Yubaba's style._

She tiptoed across the corridor, making sure she wouldn't wake up any of the sleeping spirits. When she reached the door, she gave it a hard knock, taking a step back as she heard the sound of knobs turning.

A Haku in his pajamas came into the view the moment the doors opened. He looked like he had just woken up, judging by the disastrous nest his hair wove into and the half-lidded eyes he used to stare at her. "Chi..." he yawned, stepping aside to let her in, closing the door as soon as she got in. "You're up early."

"Pretty late, actually, since midnight in the Human World would equate to dawn here, or would that be noon?" she pondered out loud, giving him a smile before lying down with him on his bed. "Sorry if I disturbed you. Go back to sleep."

He weakly shook his head as he dove back into the covers. "How the heck am I supposed to sleep when you're here?" he softly muttered, followed by another yawn. "It'll be..."

Since Chihiro didn't hear anything else from him, she assumed he was already asleep. Her suspicions were confirmed when she spun her head towards him and saw him passed out on his pillows. _What time did he even sleep?_

She giggled at how peaceful he looked before resting her head on the soft pillows and going back to sleep.

Another dream. Or maybe not. All she could see was black, but she swore she heard Ichika's voice faintly across her.

"Is anybody there?"she tried asking in her head.

"Chihiro," went Ichika's voice, slowly echoing in the pitch black. "I'm glad I was able to reach you. I just wanted to tell you that I'm somewhere near, but I can't cross the border. That's why you'll have to come to get whatever I left you. Trace it down with your powers, and make sure nobody sees you."

There was a painfully eerie silence before Chihiro started to bombard the ex-goddess with questions. "What is it? Also, is Hideo the enemy? Should we really take our chances and negotiate for Sadashi's life? Will he not betray us? Is he—"

A loud laugh echoed from across, stopping her from asking questions. " _Ahh,_ Chihiro," Ichika's voice sweetly purred. "You're a goddess now, an immortal, yet you have a mind of a human. That's a compliment, although I strongly disapprove of your black-and-white ideology."

"Black-and-white ideology?" Chihiro asked, flabbergasted. "I'm sorry, I'm not sure what you mean."

 _Silence._ "You tend to classify objects as black and white—the usual way the Human World goes around on. There's a bad guy, then there's a good guy. However, it is wrong to limit how you see things to just two solid and completely opposite colors. That's why you should try considering a gray area. Do you get my point?"

Chihiro didn't grasp what the ex-goddess what trying to imply at first, but when she figured it could be pertaining to Hideo, she got the message. "This is very rude, but how are you communicating with me if you're a human, Lady?"

"Who says humans can't use magic? Remember, your previous kind knows magic too—in fact, more than spirits do, maybe."

She mentally shook her head. "What's the object you want me to look for?"

"A cursed blade."

Chihiro gaped. "A-A cursed b-blade?" she managed to stutter out before she heard laughter.

"One of the finest of Hachiman. You know who the god is, I suppose?"

"The god of war?" she guessed, earning an amused hum from the other party.

"Yes, brilliant," Ichika praised. "You see, he's one of the few gods who survived the previous war. He's a first-generation god."

"What do you mean by that?"

She let out a chuckle. "There was once a war during... I don't seem to remember when. But this war led to the murder of the first generation gods. When gods are killed, they are replaced and rebirth as new gods. I am one of the rebirths of Konohana Sakuya, the former goddess of flowers and Mt. Fuji itself. There are other gods and goddesses that inherited her other domains, such as Fujiroshi, who is now the god of Mt. Fuji. I suspect that is what Akumu Kage intends to do."

"So that's Akumu Kage's primary intention? Restarting the whole cycle and being the one on top." Her heart dropped like it was being suspended in the air the whole time. If they lost the war, everyone would apparently die, even Haku. Who would replace them, then? That was a question she didn't even want to ask.

"Indeed. That way, he'd be able to keep every single god and goddess under his control and become the next Amaterasu. But he could be hiding even more underneath the surface of his cunning appearance."

Chihiro decided to muster up the courage and ask, "My Lady, were you ever in love with Akumu Kage? I know you probably hate him but... there must be some point where you—"

"Enough," Ichika sternly interrupted before heaving a stressed sigh. "It's a sensitive topic to me, honestly. I'm not ready to tell you yet, especially since you're about to wake up."

" _Wha—?_ " The darkness then began to fill with light and before she knew it, her eyes were opening and staring wide open at the ceiling. She looked around cautiously and pursed her lips when she found that the person sleeping beside her was no longer there. "Haku? Haku!" she called out, not even bothering to leave the bed. From somewhere across the room, the river god poked his head through a door, his eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"Oh, you're awake," he muttered, beckoning her to approach him. She swiftly made her way to him, stopping for a moment at the doorway as she marveled at the bookshelves that covered every wall of the room. "It's my study. Do you like it? I know you love to write so..."

She let her feet guide her around the room, her hands brushing through the books that filed neatly against the shelves. In the middle of the room was a table filled with stacks of paper and even more books. He must've noticed how amazed she was because he then chuckled with pride. "You can stay here while I'm gone, maybe read about romance... or horror."

"I want to read about the history of this world," she whispered, although he had heard it anyway since he hummed in approval. "Seriously, this is incredible!"

He placed a hand on his hip as he grinned. "My pleasure. I'm delighted that you seem impressed." He walked closer to her and hugged her from behind, his face nuzzling against the crook of her neck. "Chihiro, when all of this is over, do the honors and be my mate."

She raised an eyebrow. "Aren't we already that?" she asked as she cocked her head to the side. "Or am I missing something?"

Gently, he spun her around to face him then took her hands in his before looking at her in the eyes. "Chihiro, remember that I am not human. What you call marriage in the Human World is a bonding of souls here... or mating. It's an actual ceremony, but it's much more complex than marriage. Don't mind it, for now, I'll bring it up again—"

"Yes," she interrupted with a grin.

He blinked, obviously bewildered. "Huh, what do you mean?" Then it hit him and his eyes widened. "You mean... you agree to be my mate?"

She nodded her head vehemently, before bringing herself closer to him and whispering, "Yes, Haku. I want to be bonded with you for eternity."

A lone tear slid down his cheek as the corners of his lips tug up in a tender smile. He closed the gap between them, connecting his lips with hers as they showed how much love they had for one another. One thing led to another, and Chihiro wasn't sure how they ended up in the bedroom right after, although she knew just how long Haku had been holding himself back.

Perhaps, it was the start of a new beginning.

_Or maybe things will go down from here._


	21. Chapter 21: In Which She Wields the Blade

**LATER THAT NIGHT, THE** sound of horses whining filled the once silent air of the camp. Chihiro, who had been spending the whole afternoon reading in Haku's library, decided to check out the commotion happening outside. The river god was downstairs with Lin, planning out their route to Hideo's palace and checking if they had all the supplies needed. They would be using horses as well, which Chihiro just recently found out were also river spirits.

She jogged out of Haku's room and through the corridor, making her way to the balcony of the floor she was in. The two horses she saw this morning came into view as soon as she stepped into the balcony. Kigaha dismounted from his own horse, leaving his two other companions as he marched to the house. When Chihiro caught his eye, she knew something was wrong.

She raced down to the stairs, stopping halfway to eavesdrop to the talking. "So?" Lin's voice went, followed by a peal of mocking laughter. Chihiro pressed her ear to the gap of the railings.

"I found the remains of the so-called boiler room. Soot's all over it, but no blood or at least, no sign of any life form at all. Not even a heap of ashes, to be exact. I'm pretty sure your old man has escaped." And that was Kigaha.

She sighed with relief before hearing Haku's response. "Kigaha, we leave an hour before dawn. I want you to keep an eye on Chihiro and don't let her out of your sight. Teach her how to use a dagger once she's mastered the katana. And most importantly, don't tell her about this suicide mission."

Her eyes widened at the word _suicide._ She slapped a hand over her mouth when she felt a gasp coming out from it. The urge to ask him what mission he was referring to heightened, although she knew it was his and Lin's.

"How is it suicide?" asked Kigaha's voice.

She heard Haku sigh. "One of us could die on the way if we aren't careful. Plus... I have a foreshadowing. A very blurry one, but I saw a person being abducted by the Dark Army. I can't tell who it is, but whoever it was, it's not a good sign."

"Haku," Kigaha loudly called out, "promise me one thing—that you will return alive and breathing. Remember that Chihiro will be waiting for you to come home, alright?" He was met with no response for a moment, but what she heard next made her cringe slowly.

"You know I can't promise that, Aokigahara."

Silence filled the space, and it was a quite eerie one. Chihiro was contemplating if she should get back and stop listening or if she should listen some more. _And get caught?_ her inner self scolded. _Tch, the truth hurts, doesn't it, Chihiro?_

"Well," Lin eagerly broke the silence. "This is all we can bring. Ten days away from home... isn't that too long? Oh, and also, Kigaha." There was an abrupt pause, followed by the sound of metal being caught. "Take this. It should tell you how Haku and I are doing. If the time comes and we're in danger, the hands should start spinning like crazy. Don't follow us though."

"How'd you get this?" Kigaha asked with a dangerously quiet voice. "Isn't this... one of the artifacts of a demon? Are you sure you're... Lin?"

Chihiro stood up from where she was sitting and made her way down a few more steps to get a good earshot.

The weasel spirit could be heard chuckling. "I found it in Sadashi's belongings when I was rummaging through her bag. It seems as though she could be a spy. The fact that she keeps such banned artifacts is enough to raise our suspicions, don't you think, Haku?"

"So why aren't we dispensing her?" Kigaha asked as he raised his voice. "Why must we deliver a traitor back to _hell_? Can't we just leave her here to rot? Do you really have to risk your lives for the foe? Is it because you don't want to disappoint Chihiro? That's it, huh?"

Chihiro almost gasped when she heard the sound of glass shattering on the floor. "Kigaha, you're asking too many questions," Lin answered calmly as Haku could be heard cursing. "Part of it is Chihiro, of course. After all, she and Sadashi have the closest bond between us all. As for you, Haku, would you please stop pacing around like an idiot?"

"Well, I want to punch Kigaha, so what must I do?" the river god shouted. "Whatever. I'm going to rest. Heating up an argument is pointless. See you at dawn."

Chihiro mildly panicked as she heard footsteps approaching the stairs. Nimbly yet cautiously, she went up the stairs and back to Haku's room at full speed. She gently closed the door behind her and jumped under the covers, pretending to be sound asleep.

Around a minute later, she heard the doors open and close with a bang. She flinched, sitting up as if she was shocked. "H-Haku, is that you?" she asked in a soft voice, rubbing her eyes with her hands. "Are you back?"

Through half-lidded eyelids, she watched him make his way to the bed, sliding in the sheets and joining her. "I'm sorry," he apologized in a low and husky voice before she felt his arms wrap around her waist to pull her closer to him. "Did I wake you up? I'm about to leave in an hour, so I figured I'd spend the rest of the time with you."

"Did something happen?" she whispered as she reached out to rake her fingers through his hair. "Banging the door isn't something you'd do on a daily basis. Did something or someone upset you?"

He shook his head. "No. It's nothing. I'm having mood swings, that's all. Don't worry too much, it's not good for you. Now, go back to sleep. I'll wake you up when I'm about to leave."

She was hesitant at first, but her body decided to obey. Snuggled up against his warm body, she drifted into a (thankfully) dreamless state.

* * *

She woke up hours later to an empty bed. Although the drapes in the window behind her had prevented the sunlight from entering the room, she could tell that it was already morning when she heard birds chirping outside. Quickly, she did the bed and made her way outside to the back of the house where a dense forest lay ahead, trying not to run into anyone. She had one task to do—and that was to find the cursed blade that Ichika wanted her to look for.

She walked far into the dense forest before closing her eyes. Ichika's instructions weren't very clear, so she couldn't picture a blade in her head. _Cursed blade, where the hell are you?_ she tried to communicate through her head. As if on queue, a picture of a part of a river surrounded by cherry blossoms trees appeared into her head. When she opened her eyes, that was exactly where she had transported to.

She looked around for a good minute, listening to the chirping of small birds and the gush of water from the river—Haku's river. The river shone when the sunlight hit it, casting a faint glow on the cherry blossoms nearby. Deciding she had had a good look at her surroundings, she began searching for the cursed blade Ichika had been referring to. The only thing she found was a small wooden box with a note folded gently inside.

Sitting by a nearby stack of cherry blossom leaves, she opened the note and silently let her eyes read through it.

 _They call me_ 即死 _, the cursed blade of Instant Death. I come to those who yield me and choose who I serve. Prove yourself worthy by calling my name._

Blinking in stupefaction, Chihiro stuffed the note back into the wooden box, which she placed beside her. If she was going to wield a cursed blade, she should be standing up. She got back up to her feet and set some distance between her and the nearest cherry blossom tree before closing her eyes to meditate and clear her thoughts. When her mind was almost empty, she muttered, "Sokushi, I summon you."

Nothing happened for a moment. But just as she was about to repeat the name, she felt the wind strangely grow still. She checked to see what was happening, gasping when black smoke started to fill the air surrounding her. It was not long before the smoke enveloped her into a small space.

 _I am Sokushi, the demon of the cursed blade of Instant Death. Tell me, why do you think you're worthy of my service, human?_ she heard the smoke echo in her head.

Chihiro regained her composure and stood up straight, trying not to show how afraid she was at the moment. Gripping her obi tightly, she responded with, "I'm Chihiro Ogino, goddess of the cherry blossoms. I come forth and seek you to be my ally and serve me as your master. I want to use your power to protect my world."

She heard laughter from around her. _Really?_ Sokushi taunted. _Your world? Are you referring to the Human... or the Spirit World? You see, you belong to neither. You're like a vagrant—a homeless, with no home or allies. So tell me, Chihiro, what is it that you seek? Don't you seek... power?_

"No," she snapped, bringing her foot down hard on the ground. "I seek protection and victory for my people—both human and spirit. I desire peace and reconciliation for them all, even if I have to put my life in the line. The evil Akumu Kage is about to rise and there is no way to stop him when he reaches his full power; that is why, with your help, I may be able to dispense those with him and stop him from taking full control of our worlds."

There was silence—eerie, yet very solemn. _I sense your persistence and determination,_ Sokushi hissed. _Very well. I shall ask you one thing in exchange for my power and protection. Allow me to drink your blood every time you wield me; that way, not only will my thirst be satisfied, but it'll also strengthen our bond as we become one._

Chihiro thought for a moment, then nodded her head. "Alright," she decided boldly. "It's a deal. But how do I call you? Furthermore, how do I use you?"

_Whenever you are in need, just call my name and ask me to lend you my power. Then, in order for me to lend you my full potential, I will drink your blood when you cut yourself with my blade. Do not fret, you will learn more about me the more you use me. Only then can I show you what I can really do._

Chihiro couldn't help but be impressed by how cunning the sword was. Of course, it would do that; he wanted more blood from her. And she understood that, of course. Conjuring powers must be very tiresome, so the least she can do is give it some energy. At least he didn't ask for her body to possess.

"Consider it done."

_Very well. Summon me, master. Call me with a unique choice of words._

She paused for a moment before knitting her eyebrows and shouting, "Sokushi, wield!" In her closed fist, blue flames erupted, spreading out in a line as it formed a blue katana. She marveled at the weapon now in her hand as it hissed to her touch. "What if I want you to disappear, like... when the task is over?"

_Then just think of me disappearing. That shouldn't be a problem. One more thing. You're the only one who can hear me now since you are my master, so if you will, do explain to the young boys in front of you what just happened._

"Young boys...?" Chihiro started as the smoke cleared, two boys coming into view. When she realized who it was, she jumped back. _Sokushi, begone._ The katana burst back into flames and disappeared, leaving no trace of it.

Standing right in front of her was no other than Tamotsu and Boh themselves, eyes wide in shock and horror as they stared back at the goddess.


	22. Chapter 22: In Which She Gets Busted

**"STAND BACK, BOH!" TAMOTSU** shouted as he blocked the other person's path with an outstretched arm. "That's not my master."

Chihiro stepped forward, stopping when she noticed that they were stepping back. "T-Tamotsu, it's just me, Chihiro."

"No!" he yelled as tears started to stream down his cheeks. "You are _not_ Onee-chan. You're an imposter! Tell me where she is or I will slay you with my bare hands!"

Just how was she going to convince an infuriated dog spirit that she was his master? Then it snapped in her head. "You're wrong," she calmly said, causing him to gasp. "I am your master. Should we flip this around... hmm? I thought dogs were loyal to their masters, yet here you are, doubting me just because of a minor change. Have you failed to recognize me, Tamotsu? Or should we settle this with a hand-in-hand combat? _Sokushi, wield!"_

A katana writhed in her hands, the flames dying down as she swung the blade and pointed it up to Tamotsu's throat, who was within reach of the blade. She could hear her servant shallow dryly as Boh's breathing hitched.

Boh was brave enough to step forward, his eyes meeting Chihiro's flaming ones. _My eyes... are flaming?_ "Chihiro," the giant baby called out, although she tried not to lower her guard down, just in case Tamotsu had any ideas of tackling her down. "If it really is you, then please... don't resort to violence. The human I know won't do that. She's the sweetest and most kind-hearted person I know. She wouldn't hurt anyone she loved dearly, now would she?"

She started to soften, pondering about what he had said. Then again, it could be a strategy so they could bring her down. She averted her gaze to one of the cherry blossom trees, gathering her thoughts before she stepped back. _Sokushi, begone._ And it did just what it was told to do.

She focused herself on Tamotsu, then Boh, before heaving a frustrated sigh and responding with, "I-I'm sorry," she muttered softly as she felt tears swell up in her eyelids. "I didn't mean to scare you. I was just... I've changed forms. But it really is me, Chihiro Ogino, although I am no longer human."

"How...?" Boh faltered when Tamotsu shot him a deadly look.

The dog spirit stepped forward, gritting his teeth at her, looking as if he was about to pounce on her. "Explain, then I'll tell you if I have my doubts on you."

Chihiro nodded, relaxing for a moment before beckoning them to sit down. Boh was the first to sit, then her. Tamotsu, who was reluctant, was pulled down by the giant baby, crashing on the ground with a thud. She held back a laugh by pursing her lips, much to Tamotsu's displeasure.

"You want to know why I'm no longer human, correct?" she started, gaining eager nods from the two. "Well, you see, Lady Ichika... forced me to take her immortality."

" _Excuse me, what?"_ Boh blurted out, turning to Tamotsu and shaking the dog spirit's shoulders. "She's lying, right? That's not possible—"

"It is," Tamotsu muttered in a fashion that showed how anxious he was. "But it rarely even happens. I've known a few spirits who inherited the immortality of gods, even their powers. Besides, we did see her summon a cursed blade, which mind you, only gods can do. So Onee-chan, tell us how you got her immortality, then."

Chihiro bit her lip. "You see," she spoke silently, "I don't just have her immortality. I have... her powers."

 _"What?"_ Boh basically screamed out, while Tamotsu maintained a straight face and urged her to go on.

"When we were in Budapest, I-I..." She met Tamotsu's eyes, guiltily staring at them as she continued. "Ichika ordered me to come to some house and... she injected me with a serum that would transfer her immortality to me. We even tested it out—"

"So why didn't you tell us?" Chihiro heard hurt in Tamotsu's voice, the type that you hear when you felt betrayed by someone close to you.

"Ichika told me not to tell anyone about it... or Haku might do the same to save her."

The dog spirit nodded, while Boh cocked his big head to the side, looking very confused.

Chihiro lowered her head. "Do you believe me? I-I mean, you don't have to force yourself—"

"I do," Tamotsu muttered with conviction. "It's hard to process, but I should have faith in my own master, shouldn't I? I trust you completely. That's why I choose to believe you. As for Boh..."

"Yeah, same," Boh quickly agreed as he picked up a leaf that had fallen from a nearby cherry blossom tree.

Chihiro beamed at the response of her friends. She wanted to hug them, but she found herself unable to move due to how astonished she was. "Thank you, Tamotsu and Boh. I have one request for you, however."

There was a long pause before she went on. "Don't tell anyone about this. It will remain a secret."

* * *

The days went by pretty quickly, and before she knew it, a week had already gone by. Things were pretty normal—in the morning, Kigaha would teach Chihiro more advanced sword-fighting techniques, which to her surprise, became her area of expertise. Zeniba would offer her basic magic spells and potion making, although Chihiro soon got bored of it and decided to avoid the lessons the witch gave. Boh and Tamotsu would come with her in the afternoons to the area where she found her cursed blade and watch her communicate with it.

Often, they would ask her more about her interactions with Ichika and request her to demonstrate her powers (without having the need to stab herself, though). They were always amazed every time, even if they've already seen her powers used many times. With each passing day, she found herself trusting the two boys more and more that they wouldn't snitch on her. Little did she know, her secret wasn't going to be contained in their little circle for long.

Today was the day she screwed up. It was during her eighth day of training with Kigaha. It wasn't entirely her fault, however, since she was starting to hallucinate in the middle of a battle.

In this hallucination, she saw Haku swinging his sword at her, glancing down at her with a deadly look. She tried to reach for his face but was instead met with a sword to her gut. It was Kigaha's, and she knew that when the hallucinations evaporated, leaving her wide eyes staring down at her impaled stomach. She watched as blood dripped down onto the ground like newly-coated icing from a cake down.

Pain immediately rushed in as she wailed in agony. _Make it stop, make it stop!_ she screamed to herself as she let go of her katana, hearing it clattering on the ground beside her. Her knees started to buckle as Kigaha ran forward and caught her.

"Shit," he cursed as he turned to Tamotsu and Boh. "Call a medic!"

"N-No, wait... stop," Chihiro managed to choke out before she closed her eyes. The pain was too much for her to handle that she felt her thoughts slipping out of her head. She tried to focus on keeping her consciousness, but that only made it worse. Without thinking about the consequences, she closed her eyes and concentrated on healing the wound.

 _Huh, so it had been the same spot where Ichika stabbed me,_ she lightheartedly joked to herself as in her head, she watched the gaping hole in her body repair itself. Tissues started to mend and she felt like a rag doll being sewn shut with a needle. The pain was so unbearable that she couldn't help but roll over to the ground and gag.

"Chihiro, don't worry, the medic—" She could hear the panic in his voice as he scooped her up and carried her to a nearby bench.

She glared at him and snarled, "I'm alright! Please, I really am. I'm... repairing myself." Carefully, she lifted up her shirt, revealing the wound now closing before his very eyes.

His reaction was very much expected—eyes widening and staggering back into the field before tripping on a stone. She watched as his lower lip quivered as if he was going to scream something, but luckily, he was so taken aback to even release a single sound.

She smoothened her shirt once again, sitting up on the bench and facing him with a deadpanned expression. "No need to fret," she casually advised before examining the blood in her hands. "It's me, Chihiro. I've just—"

She stopped when she heard a blade being unsheathed from its case. Without hesitation, she muttered, "Sokushi, wield!"

Kigaha, who was previously charging at Chihiro with full speed, stopped dead on his tracks, gaping at the pole of blue flames that erupted in her hand, later turning into a blue katana. "Who the fuck are you? Are you a demon? This isn't you, Chihiro. A human can't possibly conjure..."

"But I can," she responded in a low and bitter tone. "And I'm no longer human. I... am the goddess of cherry blossoms."

He just stared at her with disbelief, glancing around them to see if anyone was within earshot. "You're Ichika? Wait no, you don't smell like her. You smell... different." He got up to his feet, sheathing his katana back into the case that hung on his belt before heaving a deep sigh. "Well, I suppose you're going to have to explain this, Chihiro."

* * *

They had ended very late that night. Talking for two hours straight seemed like torture to Chihiro, having to elaborate things over and over to a god who just couldn't believe a single word she said. Now she felt what her professors must've felt—a rough voice after hours of talking nonstop.

Kigaha wrapped his fingers around his cup, glowering at the pale yellow liquid inside of it. "So that must be why Ichika is missing," he muttered quietly. "If Haku were to discover this, then he'd turn himself into a mortal too and hand his immortality to his mother. In fact, I'm not even sure what would happen to you if Fujiroshi were to know about this."

She slammed her fist against the table, alarming her two other companions—the giant baby and her dog. "Then don't let it reach him," she answered, looking at him dead in the eyes. "I don't know what she's planning, but the last time I communicated with her, she told me she was close and left me a cursed dagger."

She heard Boh sigh with exasperation before he whined, "Please don't repeat this story all over again. You've talked about this, like, a million times already. Let's go to sleep." The four spirits agreed to this without any form of reluctance, preparing to stand up.

Chihiro stood up pretty quickly that her vision went white... although not only that. Haku and Lin appeared in front of her, looking to be inside of a dark place. She realized it was a cave when he grunted with pain, the sounds bouncing off the walls of stone. Only then was she able to process the scene unfolding in front of her.

Haku had rolled into the floor, coughing up blood as the thick red liquid started to seep into his haori. Lin had collapsed beside him, fetching for a pouch inside her back. She felt through it and cursed. "Shit," she shrieked, "the bottles are empty. I can't heal you without the potions." The river god moaned in pain once more before the vision faded into a worried Kigaha standing right in front of her.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked softly as he pats her head. "You look tense. Go get some sleep."

"They're... _Haku's dying_!" she exclaimed as she felt something painful in her chest. She couldn't stop the tears from racing down her face. "Kigaha, we have to save them! He's going to die."

He raised an eyebrow at her before asking, "How are you so sure of that?" he questioned with doubt clearly heard in his voice. "What if it was just an—"

She shook her head. "I'm certain it was a foreshadowing... or that same vision could be happening at the moment." It was true—it was too real to be a mere hallucination. She had recently learned that gods and goddesses can receive a foreshadowing even without asking for it. It is apparently Ekisha's doing, which is probably a good thing, at least, to Chihiro's understanding. "Please, we have to go, Kigaha." 

Kigaha stared into her eyes for a moment, his eyebrows slowly knitting together. Then he turned to Tamotsu and Boh, saying, "I want you to stay here and tell Fujiroshi and Zeniba we took a potion of transportation to save Haku and Lin. If you are asked more, do not speak of anything else and pretend you are oblivious." 

Tamotsu nodded. "You have my word, Onee-chan, Lord Kigaha," he agreed as Boh gave them a thumbs up. "Please come back in one piece." 

Chihiro was going to say that there wasn't any assurance in that, although she figured that she wouldn't want to worry her friends. Instead, she nodded and said goodbye. "Ready?" 

The forest god nodded. "What's wrong?" he worried as she tried to hold back an anxious look. "Haven't tried teleporting with two people?" She nodded slowly. "It's quite simple, actually. You just need to hold the hands of the people you're teleporting with. Heck, you can even teleport someone or something excluding yourself. All you gotta do is think about them teleporting without you. Quite simple, right?"

She nodded once again, offering her hands out for him to hold. When he placed his hands in hers, she tried not to notice the pink shade that had appeared on his cheeks and focus on teleporting them to the cave. In her head, she pictured the surroundings of that cave, trying not to leave out any detail. _There, go there._

She closed her eyes and felt the wind pick up speed around them before it became lighter and lighter. Soon, she no longer felt the ground, as if she was suspended midair. 


	23. Chapter 23: In Which She Makes a Choice

**THE MOMENT THEY HAD** teleported into the entrance of the cave, they were met with a number of floating spirits wearing black cloaks over their smokey figure. Chihiro gritted her teeth before yelling, "Sokushi, wield!"

Blue flames erupted in her hands, quickly forming into the blue katana she had been training with for the past week. _Now's the time to use me, master,_ it hissed at her. _Quickly, cut yourself as you've always had._

Without hesitation, she dragged the index finger of her less dominant hand through the blade, flinching at the stinging pain. "Serve me well," she shouted as she lunged at an enemy, slashing and swinging at whoever she laid her eyes on. She glanced over her shoulder for a moment to see what Kigaha was up to.

He was fending off the enemies on the other side, kicking and charging as he cut through them without much effort. When he caught her eye, he yelled, "Chihiro! Get inside and find them. Hurry! I'll spare you some time."

She hesitated, not sure if she should run inside the cave or stay here and help him. "But I can't leave you!" she yelled back. "Kigaha, I can't—"

"I'll be fine, but Haku wouldn't. I promise I'll follow you, so quit wasting time!"

With one last glance at the forest god, she nodded and bolted to the entrance of the cave, momentarily going blind as her vision switched from light to pure pitch black. A few steps further and she met a wall, bumping her shin against a rock. She hissed in pain, bending down to press on her shin, which she realized was now bleeding. Right now, she didn't have time to heal herself. She just had to find him.

"Sokushi, I have a request for you. You think you can lighten up the path?" she asked the sword.

 _Master, I'm a sword, not a candelabra,_ the sword chuckled. For a demon, Sokushi was surely very dumb and arrogant, she inwardly joked.

"Return to flames and ignite an orange fire for me," she commanded when the flames transformed into a glowing blue katana.

 _That's dangerous,_ was its reply. _I can sense an enemy lurking in the darkness, you know?_

She bit her lip. That definitely was not good. "Well then, what am I supposed to do? Bump into the walls some more? Cartwheel my way through the darkness?" she hotly suggested, earning a chuckle from Sokushi.

_I would pay a good amount for the latter, but really, the best I can do is glow as a katana._

Chihiro nodded, raising the katana and ordering, "Sokushi, illuminate in white." The sword obliged, slowly glowing white. She covered her eyes for a moment as she adjusted to the newfound light illuminating her path. "I didn't know you could sense enemies hiding in the cave."

The light began to flicker as if it was laughing at her remark. Without any more delays, she made her way cautiously and nimbly down the path, glancing behind her from time to time, not letting her guard down. After what felt like a few minutes of walking, she heard a cough echo throughout the cave. It wasn't safe to speak up and ask who it was, so all she could do was follow the voice. It led her to a small hearth, where she found Lin and Haku.

He was on the floor, on his side as he started coughing once again. Lin, on the other hand, had her back on Chihiro, trying to press some cloth on his wound. "Haku!" Chihiro accidentally exclaimed as she stepped forward. This startled both spirits, with Haku widening his eyes and Lin jumping up, unsheathing her dagger. They both stared at the girl who just arrived with disbelief, although he couldn't stare for long as he grunted in pain.

"What the hell are you doing here? And why do you have a cursed blade?" Lin questioned a little harshly as she put her dagger back from where she got it. "Don't tell me even Kigaha is here—"

 _Sokushi, begone._ The sword disappeared before their eyes. "He's outside. Now let me heal him." She walked over to them without consent, kneeling by his side and pressing hard on his wound. He groaned in agony, stuttering some words but he couldn't seem to form anything.

"What are you doing?" Lin asked as she collapsed beside Chihiro. "Are you trying to kill him?" Her questions were answered when a faint light burst out from Haku's terribly bleeding wound. Chihiro had her eyes closed, the visual of the gaping hole on his body never leaving her head. In her hands, the faint light felt like a cold mist from a mountain early in the morning. When the image inside her head faded to black, she opened her eyes, only to be met by Haku's piercing stare.

He sat up, his eyes instantly widening as he glanced down and pat the place where his fatal wound once was. Then he glanced at Chihiro, who nodded profusely. "How—?"

"She's Ichika's replacement," answered a voice from behind, which could only be Kigaha. Chihiro didn't jump, although she felt her heart rate quicken. "I accidentally stabbed her during one of our lessons and she healed herself. She also teleported us here. Amazing, right? Or is it still hard to believe?"

Haku shook his head, pulling Chihiro over to his side so he could wrap an arm around her. "No, I believe that," he responded with a serene tone. "Lin and I had talked about this on our way here, so trust me when I say I'm more than ready to believe that. However... how did _she_ do it to you, Chihiro? And why didn't you tell me?"

She lowered her head slowly. "She told me not to, or you'd do the same and give her your immortality. And she did it because she wanted to switch places with me in the prophecy."

His expression didn't change, although he looked very empty, as though he was thinking of something very deeply. "Mother... is always like that," he uttered with a weak smile. "She'd do just anything for me, huh? Well, I'm not draining my immortality like she said she would, simply because I do not know how it works. Now it all makes sense."

"What makes sense?" Lin asked, curiosity edging in her voice. She and Kigaha moved closer to Haku and Chihiro, who had her head on his shoulder. "You're the only one not making sense here."

Haku took a breather and began to do some explaining. "You see, when I gave Chihiro a necklace to protect herself, Ichika appeared out of nowhere with Tamotsu. I'm not sure if Tamotsu is aware of what she's doing, but she could've brought her with him in case she was caught stealing... herbs from the rooftop garden of the bathhouse. And that was exactly what had happened." He glanced down at Chihiro and asked, "I believe Tamotsu is aware of your transformation?"

She nodded profusely, looking up to meet his eyes. "Yeah. He seems to know a lot of stuff, although he acted very hostile."

"I see..." he faltered, his eyebrows narrowing. "That's an act. I'm sure he knows what she was up to. After all, Chihiro, he was Ichika's servant before you."

"So basically, we're going to doubt everyone like how we doubted Sadashi?" Chihiro snapped unintentionally, lifting her head from his shoulder and leaning back against the cold hard wall of the cave. "Speaking of Sadashi, where is she?"

He and Lin exchanged a remorseful look, the latter being the one to respond. "She crystallized herself before being abducted by the DEMON BRIGADE, most likely so she wouldn't get tortured. I doubt she'd do us a favor and keep herself from providing intel."

Chihiro grit her teeth shakily, staring daggers at the weasel spirit. "Sadashi wouldn't just think about herself!" she yelled, feeling a hand clamp against her mouth. She looked sideways and saw that it was Haku's. All the words she tried to scream came out as muffled whimpers.

"Quiet," he ordered as he brought his index finger to his lips as a signal to hush. "I hear someone coming. Get your weapons ready." He loosened his grip from her mouth, allowing her to speak once again.

"Let's teleport out of here," she suggested enthusiastically, earning a hum of approval from Kigaha and Lin.

"That's not possible," Haku disagreed as he stood up and began surveying the pathway back outside. "You can't teleport simultaneously. We'll have to wait ten minutes for it to effectively transport all of us."

Just as she was about to protest, she heard heavy footsteps and began to panic. "No, we're doing it now, whether you like it or not." She took Lin and Kigaha's hands, closing her eyes and imagining the camp. _Transport them, not me._ She felt a light breeze envelop her and before she knew it, she no longer felt the hands of her friends.

She felt her knees buckle as a sudden wave of fatigue overcame her. Haku stepped forward and caught her. "What are you doing?" he managed to choke out before she pressed her lips against his, kissing him for a moment.

When she pulled away from him, a tear rolled down her cheek. "Haku, I love you," she whispered as she took his hands in his, her eyes slowly closing. _Transport him._ The breeze returned once again and she heard his protests mix with it, until she could no longer hear them. Her body felt light as a feather all of a sudden, and as she collapsed onto the floor, her vision slowly became pitch black.

 _So this must be what it feels like... to die?_ No, she wasn't dead. The voices she heard confirmed this. Even though they seemed very distant, she knew they were surrounding her unconscious body. Everything was muffled and incoherent for a moment before she heard a familiar voice talking to a feminine-sounding unfamiliar one.

"Sir, we've found only this girl," the latter said. "Looks to me that she's unconscious too. What are your orders, General?"

Chihiro heard laughter from the former. Only then did she realize that the voices were getting farther and farther away, but before she could feel entirely numb, she heard him say, "Well then, take her back to HQ. It'll be wonderful to have a new addition to my pets."

* * *

_**END OF** _  
_**THE FIRST ARC.** _

_**"EMERGENCE."** _


	24. Chapter 24: Six Month Later (the Present)

**_THE SECOND ARC:_ **

**_"UPRISING"_ **

* * *

**HE STOOD BY THE WINDOWSILL** of his office, his lips pressed in a tight line and his eyes looking out of the glass pane, longingly staring at his river. It has been long since he had visited his river, and for sure, it has been missing its physical form. Thus, it has been going wild, chaotically streaming down with such a strong current. He, however, was not in the mood to tame it. In fact, he was never in the mood since _that_ day—the day he lost her.

He had been locked up in his office for days, keeping himself busy with much paperwork and strategic planning. Ever since they got back from their failed mission, Fujiroshi decided to take matters into him and so he established the IMPERIAL ARMY OF LIGHT, where he sat as the General. They gathered spirits and minor deities from everywhere to join the growing army, who will one day overcome Akumu Kage—the persistent foe.

Haku came in as the Major General, who was mostly in command in the small missions they would make in the Underworld. Their ultimate goal was to destroy the Citadel of Hideo, the center of the Underworld, where Hideo is believed to reside. It was surrounded by small villages, which the IMPERIAL ARMY OF LIGHT are currently targeting, and is believed to sit on top of where Akumu Kage lies, resting as he awakens.

Five months ago was supposed to be the end of time for them. Akumu Kage was bound to take over, wiping out all those who crossed his path. However, nothing had happened.

You must be wondering: _What was he waiting for? Why hadn't he arisen five months ago when he should have?_

The answer to that, nobody knows exactly; or at least, nobody from the IMPERIAL ARMY OF LIGHT. Not even the intel they got from the captured members of the DEMON BRIGADE would be enough to connect the dots. But for whatever reason, everyone was certain that it wasn't good.

Sure, they had time to enhance their ammunition and strengthen themselves, but so would Akumu Kage and his DEMON BRIGADE. In fact, he had a theory that another powerful force is being awakened by the DEMON BRIGADE, thus why no signs of movement were made direct to them over the course of the past months.

Whatever is going to happen, he knew he had one ultimate goal—to rescue _her._ Oh, how much he had missed her presence. The time they've spent together was short, but his love for her had grown stronger as time went by. _How dare he take her away from me?_ he cursed his twin brother at the back of his head. _She's mine, not his._

There was a gentle knock on the door. "Name and purpose," he groaned at whoever was on the other side of the door, not bothering to break his eye contact on his river.

"Second Lieutenant Lin and Colonel Kigaha, sir. We have some important intel," went the familiar woman's voice.

Haku groaned in annoyance, before shouting, "Come in." The sound of doors opening resonated in the room, followed by it being shut and two pairs of boots clapping against the floor of his office. "Make it quick." He turned around and fell into his chair by the table with boredom etched in his face. "I don't have all the time in the world."

Lin looked slightly irritated, although she only nodded in response. "We've managed to let one of our captured DEMON BRIGADE soldiers speak—"

"How many fingernails was it this time?" Haku asked nonchalantly as he began to study his fingernails with sass.

Kigaha chuckled, raising up two fingers more enthusiastically than he should have. "Looks like the DEMON BRIGADE lacks the loyalty from its soldiers," he smugly replied. " _Hah_ , weaklings. That's awful for them. Honestly, if I was their soldier, I wouldn't give up my—"

" _Quiet_ ," Lin snapped as she shot him a look of agitation. "Anyway, Haku, the DEMON BRIGADE'S elite squad and their commander will be on the move in two days to Saotome District, two hundred kilometers southwest of the Citadel. Their primary mission is unknown, but a letter provided by one of the captives should provide a few leads to what they want." She slid a piece of paper on the desk towards the river god, letting him take his time to read it.

He read through it painfully slow, taking up all the information written. From time to time, he would glance at Lin or Kigaha to let them know how he was while reading it. Finally, after a few minutes of silence, he put the letter down and cleared his throat. "Interesting... so that's what they plan on doing, huh? _Pathetic_."

The weasel spirit and the forest god exchanged worried looks, which made Haku arch an eyebrow at them. "What is it?" he snarled.

Kigaha swallowed uncomfortably. "She's there. She's with _them_."

"She's part of the elite squad," Lin proudly added. "I'm impressed, honestly. Her combat skill must be topnotch if that's so. You know how tough it is to get into the elite squad of the DEMON BRIGADE, right? You should be proud you were her mentor, Kigaha."

Haku furrowed his eyebrows as he stared at his table, concealing a grin that was about to plaster in his face. He didn't want his comrades to go foolish and tease him about it; it would be irritating to deal with it. Instead, he maintained the blank expression he always wore and answered with, "That would make retrieving her even easier. Saotome District is just three hundred kilometers away from here. If we leave tomorrow at dawn, we should get there by sundown."

"Excellent," Lin remarked. "How many men should we bring then?"

"None."

 _"Are you crazy?"_ Kigaha exclaimed with disbelief as he slammed a fist on the table. "Why on earth will we go without back up? And what about the plans of bringing Ichika? Will we just abandon the whole plan?"

Haku shot him a cold stare, making the other god relax a little in his seat. "We can't storm to the Un— to _that_ realm, my apologies, without being unnoticed if we go in big numbers. Besides, if anything happens to us, at least it's just us three. The rest of the army can stay here in case the DEMON BRIGADE launches a surprise attack on the base while we're gone. We're going to need as many men as we can in the final battle, remember? So let's keep our casualties to a minimum, got that?"

Both weasel spirit and forest god nodded. "Good," Haku muttered as he took the letter in his hands again and examined that one particular part that gave him a sense of relief. "It's about time I blast my brother's head off."

* * *

 **SHE, ON THE OTHER** hand, was leaning forward against the railing of the balcony the room she shared with Yuka and Catalena, taking up as much of a massive view in front of her. She faced the Southwest, where she believed was the direction her home lay in, at least, from Yuka's calculations.

She didn't exactly expect the Underworld to be a bright and sunny place. Usually, you'd associate such a realm with darkness and something "underground", hidden from mere plain sight. However, it just seemed like an extension of the _Other Side._ It was a good strategy to blend in with the _Other Side_ to lure in enemies and spirits. Nobody normally knew exactly where the boundary between both realms is... except for the DEMON BRIGADE, of course.

If there was anything positive that she got from being an elite member of the DEMON BRIGADE, it was that more secrets about Akumu and his army have been revealed for her (both intentionally and unintentionally). By now, she knew three out of five weak spots and every strategy to take him down. If executed efficiently, _they_ would have an eighty percent chance to successfully take them down; that is, however, if she does get out of this darn, _wretched_ place.

"What are you looking at, _Kao_ _-chan_?" went the familiar voice of Yuka from behind her. The said girl stepped into the balcony with her, taking her place beside _Kaori_ _._ Yuka tied her dark hair in a neat bun, asking Kaori if it looked alright. The latter nodded, turning back her head to watch the distance.

"Nothing in particular," she replied, giving her comrade a sigh. "I'm just... deeply thinking about things."

Yuka lowered her chin on the railings before letting out a yawn. "Are you by any chance... thinking about _him_?"

Kaori slowly glanced at her, then back at where she was originally staring at before softly replying with, "I've always been, Yuka. Not once did he ever leave my mind. And..." She carefully reached for the necklace on her chest, fondling with the emerald pendant as she thought of her significant other. "...I know he's looking for me."

The other girl didn't reply for a moment, only nodding her head as if she understood the situation very well. "What if," she hypothesized, "you came back to the _Other Side,_ or by any chance, you met him here in the Underworld and he was already dating someone else? Would all this time you spent thinking about him still be worth it?"

Kaori pursed her lips and nodded as she lifted the emerald pendant to the sun. "He would never do that," she murmured with a smile appearing on her lips. "He waited for me for ten years, so what are six months to him?"

"Oh jeez, don't get all worked up, _Kao_ _-chan_. You know how _all_ men are! What if he has sexual urges and a girl seduces him while you're gone?"

Kaori heaved a sigh, trying not to show how ticked off she was. "The only one getting worked up is you," she admitted nonchalantly. "And not _all_ men can't control their wants and desires. You know that for a fact, Yuka. Your own commander is a silly and foolish man, yet he is still chaste."

Yuka giggled, playfully hitting Kaori with her hand on her back. " _Sssh,_ he'll hear you!" she warned.

"Let him. Like I give two shits about him anyway. Who gets mad at stating facts?"

" _Oi_ , Yuka, Kaori," went a deep voice from behind them. Both girls turned around to find their brown-haired friend, Naruse standing by the door with his rifle and bayonet slung over his shoulder. He was pretty tall— _a skyscraper,_ Catalena had teased. "We're leaving in ten. Have you said goodbye to your rooms? You won't be having privacy for a while."

"Bold of you to assume I had one when Yuka's around," Kaori replied, setting Yuka's face on fire.

"Shut up, _Kao_ _-chan!_ " Yuka exclaimed, causing Naruse to erupt in a peal of laughter. "Let's just _fucking_ go. I can't wait to murder you, Naruse."

"Why me?"

"Because..." The two of them walked ahead of Kaori, who made one last longing stare at the view before speeding up and joining the argument of her two comrades.


	25. Chapter 25: In Which They Visit the God of War

**KAORI'S EYES LANDED ON** Naruse, who had sneezed just seconds ago. Her mind had been clouded with different thoughts, mostly about what Ayato had to tell him and why he would be late for his own meeting. It bothered her how little he considered punctuality and was almost as if he was insulting her and the squad. She and her five other comrades had been sitting in Ayato's office for an hour already, their bosoms very much numb already.

Next to Kaori sat Yuka, her closest friend, and confidant. As of the moment, she was curling her long red hair, checking for any split ends, and tending to it if there were. If there was someone who knew her deepest and nastiest secrets, it would be Yuka. Even though Yuka was quite the loudest and silliest one in their group, she could still be trusted.

Naruse was seated beside her, gripping his thighs, showing just how nervous he was to talk with the _punctual_ general. He had his gray hair distinctively shaved as always, claiming that it helps him concentrate in battle, although Kaori knew that he was just very lazy to wash and tend to his hair every day.

Directly in front of Kaori were her two bosses, Catalena, the squad captain, and Hideo, the commander of the DEMON BRIGADE East Division. She didn't exactly know when they had started to become a thing, although one thing she knew for sure was that Hideo must have fallen for Catalena's gorgeous features. With wavy long artificially-dyed blond hair, brown eyes, a sharp nose, and other feminine features, her looks were unsurpassable. At some point, Kaori was sure she had an infatuation with her squad captain.

Hideo, on the other hand, looked pretty much _normal_ —with dark hair and almost-shaped eyes with elegant sapphire hues. He looked much like the twin brother Hideo had been talking about, and he was quite right. When Kaori once entered his office, she found a photo of his brother and he looked exactly like him—except his brother had very, very dark green hair that reached up to his chin. She thought he looked very familiar, although it could be because he was so similar to Hideo.

Right next to them sat Kizuki, a man with spiky blond hair and soft amber eyes. Of all the people that were present in the room, he was the softest and kindest. If something had gone wrong in the dormitories, he would be the last to blame. He was just anything but a troublemaker.

Kaori's thoughts were immediately interrupted with Ayato barging into the room, looking very pissed as he walked to his table and sat there. He heaved a relieved sigh before meeting everyone's angry expressions. At that moment, Kaori just wanted to pull his light blond undercut-styled hair out of his scalp, although she tried so hard to hold herself back or she'd be slain by the god of war himself.

"I apologize for arriving at late notice," he began, shifting into a more comfortable position in his seat. "I had other matters to attend to with our king. Nevertheless, we shall go on with our meeting." His eyes landed on Catalena, making her swallow nervously. "There have been reports that the IMPERIAL ARMY OF LIGHT will launch a surprise attack on Saotome District three days from now. Thus, Catalena, I would like you and your squad to eliminate them and keep the residents of the district safe and sound."

Catalena blinked. "Sir, pardon me for asking but... just us five?" she asked with horror evident in her voice. "If the IMPERIAL ARMY OF LIGHT is launching a surprise attack, then why would it just be us and not—"

" _Blah, blah, blah,"_ Ayato interrupted her mockingly, a smirk forming on his face. "I'm not even done yet, so please stop talking. I'm sending some troops from the South Division over since Saotome is located here in the South. Would you rather send a battalion from yours and lose them on the way there? You'll never know where our enemies are hiding. We want our casualties kept to a minimum so we have enough men to fight when our king rises from his deep sleep."

Something in Ayato's words felt strange to Kaori, yet she ticked the thought off her head.

Hideo leaned forward towards him, his interest piquing. "How is Father? Has anyone figured out why he hasn't risen yet?"

Ayato shook his head slowly. "You already know the answer to that, dear," he nonchalantly responded. "Anyhow, it is recommended that you leave at exactly two days from now, since I have heard that you have a business to attend to...?" He twirled his index finger before pointing it at Catalena, who nodded respectfully.

"Aye," she agreed. "Kaori and Yuka are to stay behind to inspect the borders in Minagahara, while Kizuki and Naruse will be stationed in Korotensui. Do I have your consent, Lord Ayato?"

The general shrugged as if he wasn't taking her seriously. "Alright, I don't see your point in asking me this when you have your commander to ask of that... unless you're doubting his ability to deduct?" His lips curled into a devilish smile, challenging the squad captain to talk back to him.

Unfortunately, she took it and shot up her seat, slamming her palms on the table as she gave him a stink eye. "I am _not_ doubting him!" she shouted, alarming almost everyone in the room except for the very man she was looking at. "Is it bad to ask for your con—"

"I suggest you sit back and stop yelling profanities at me, Catalena," the god of war returned with a hauntingly calm tone, "or I'll tell them all who you _really_ are—or _were_ in the past. You don't want anyone to know your little secret, now don't you, Catalena?"

Kaori watched as Catalena paled, much to Ayato's amusement, before sinking back into her chair, quite embarrassed at her sudden hostility. Though Kaori was aware that her squad captain had a past, she did not know much of the details other than she had been abandoned by her comrades in a mission. Who these comrades were she was not sure if it was from the DEMON BRIGADE or some other institution. It could be an entirely different part of the Spirit World even. 

Ayato studied each and every face in the room, chuckling with a tone that purposely looked to offend them. Then his eyes settled on Hideo and he gave him a look of contempt. "Oh, and also, Hideo, when you get to the district, you can get to visit a precious friend who stupidly encased herself in a crystal. Quite silly, if I may judge. Hatsune... was her name, wasn't it?"

Hideo's blue hues widened. "Akasuki..." he murmured as he grimly as his gaze dropped to his lap, making Kaori flinch. For some odd reason, the name was very familiar to her, but she just couldn't tell why. Who was Akasuki and why did it ring bells in her head? "Why is she still in Saotome District?" 

The god of war shrugged. "The laboratory there is testing her, I suppose," he provided. "After all, not even the most powerful object in this realm could penetrate the crystal that encased her. I'm not even certain how she was able to make a crystal in the first place. That's why I shall be there in three days; I'll have them try out the sharpness of my cursed blade. We should be able to have a little reunion in Saotome District by then, hmm?" 

"She most likely encased herself so we couldn't grab any intel from her," Catalena suggested, earning a nod from Hideo. "Isn't she working with Haku whilst working for you? What kind of information has she provided you?"

A pool of consternation radiated in Kaori's stomach. A spy? How was this Haku not able to identify that Akasuki worked for two people? She had so many questions inside her head that simply sitting still was suddenly a challenge. 

Hideo waved his hand dismissively. "She's not... working for me, but she kept on insisting that I give her work. Whatever, it does not matter. That happened quite a long time ago." Catalena looked hurt and puzzled at the same time, her eyebrows furrowing more and more as her partner talked. 

Ayato cleared his throat. "Have you heard?" he enthusiastically boom, jolting everyone in their seats. "Haku now wields the fourth cursed blade." 

Kaori blinked, quite stunned. For years now, the fourth cursed blade of Hachiman had been missing—the green katana; the most powerful in terms of magic. The DEMON BRIGADE had been looking for it for years now, yet have failed time and time again to summon it. Currently, they had 4 out of 5 cursed blades in their possession—even the one they managed to claim from a goddess-turned human named Chihiro six months ago. Where she was, nobody except maybe Ayato and Hideo knew. She never even got the chance to meet her, so she could be confined in the depths of the Underworld, being tortured for intel for all she knew. 

"But he alone cannot stop us," Hideo sighed as he rubbed his temple. "He's outnumbered. There are four cursed blades—"

"Three," Ayato corrected, holding up the same number of fingers, "that is if you exclude the human we've captured six months ago. For sure, she will side with her lover, thus we cannot trust her." 

The commander shook his head. "I have made sure Chihiro will not take his sides." A smirk appeared in his face. "And it was successful. Care to know?"

"Would rather not," the god of war simply replied. "Now, allow me to kick you all out for we are done. This measly conversation we are having is interrupting my quality time. You are dismissed." 

As everyone got up and left the room, Kaori waited for Hideo and Catalena to close the door behind them before bombarding them with questions, specifically where the Chihiro girl's whereabouts were. But Hideo only gave him a sour look before denying the information from her. 

Yuka, who was standing behind Kaori, surprised the latter by wrapping an arm around her. "Come on, Kao-chan!" she cheerfully exclaimed. "Don't stress too much over things! You'll become ugly." 

"Well, that was mean," Kaori pouted, before walking away with Yuka. She gave one last glance at Hideo and for a moment, she caught him mouth two words that just didn't make total sense to her. 


	26. Chapter 26: In Which He Summons the Lost

**HE CAUGHT HER BEFORE** she could collapse onto the cold hard floor of the cave. "What are you doing?" he asked her, confusion pooling inside of him. She shot him an exhausted look before pressing her lips against him, kissing him... one last time.

A hot tear slid down her cheek when their lips pulled away, and he was even more consternated than he had already been. When she whispered, "Haku, I love you," he already knew what was up. She was going to teleport him back to the camp. His eyes widened as hers did the opposite.

"Chihiro, listen!" he protested. "Listen to me, don't teleport me back! You'll get stuck in here and they'll find you. The last thing I want is—" Before he could even finish what he was saying, his world went dark. In a snap of a finger, he fell onto the flooring of his room, head first.

Haku shot up his bed, panting and sweating like crazy. He looked around and felt his bed for the presence he had been yearning for, but as it had always been for the past two weeks, only air had occupied the space. _I've been dreaming... again,_ he thought bitterly as he got out of bed and threw the curtains aside.

He hissed at the sudden attack of bright light as it attempted to seep into his room. It was midday if he was correct since the sun had been hovering perpendicularly above him. Lately, he had been in and out of sleep, unable to just completely rest knowing Chihiro had been abducted by the enemy. He knew who exactly has her, but unfortunately, that certain someone did not favor him well.

His eyes laid on his river and studied its current. It was one of its alternate forms—a part of him that parallels his emotions. Its uneasiness and fast current meant that the river god was anxious and worried. _I guess I'll have to deal with it before it kills someone,_ he thought drily, closing his blinds before walking out of the room and to the side of his river. 

There was someone there to meet him, and it was Chihiro's trusty dog _slave_ , Tamotsu. For the past few days, Haku had been sensing someone hanging around in his river, although he was too lazy to figure out who he was. He knew, however, that whoever it was definitely was not a threat nor part of the DEMON BRIGADE. 

"Good morning, Master Haku," the dog spirit greeted cheerfully with a low bow. "Do you mind if we have a stroll? I have some useful information I want you to know about." 

Haku frowned, nodding anyway, curious to know what the information was. They strolled further down the riverside in silence until they reached a part of the river that was teeming with cherry blossoms. The river god's chest suddenly very heavy, like his lungs had mutated inside of him. They reminded him well of his mother and his Chihiro. 

A distant memory began to roll in his head, from the moment he greeted Chihiro and Sadashi by the bathhouse, to the moment they confessed to each other in Zeniba's home, up until their very last moment together. His expression suddenly went grim as he balled his fists, trying not to let a single tear escape his eyelids. 

Unfortunately, his companion had noticed this and stopped on his tracks. "My Lord," he whispered as he looked up to Haku with concern in his eyes. "You do not look alright. Would you like to go back?" 

Haku sucked in a breath, trying to regain his composure. "Don't mind me," he reassured the boy sternly as he sat on the grass patch in the river banks. "This is the effect of locking myself up inside my room." 

"Well, I understand how devastated you were, Master Haku," the dog spirit sympathized as he sat down beside the lonely god. "And I am too. _Onee-chan..._ sacrificed herself for your safety." 

"What is it that you wanted to discuss?" Haku coldly returned, diverting his somber thoughts and his urge to breakdown. "Hold on. Before that, how did you know Chihiro... and Ichika switched statuses?" 

Tamotsu bowed his head low. "It was by accident. Boh and I were playing in the banks, enjoying the sun, and that's when we both spotted Onee-chan suddenly appear not far from where we were. It wasn't like she was running either, so it piqued my interest to know where she came from. Then she picked up some wooden box at the foot of one of the cherry blossoms... then she wielded the second cursed blade of Hachiman before our very eyes." 

Haku's eyebrows furrowed as his gaze followed to where Tamotsu was pointing at, which was directly in front of him. He gulped. "I honestly don't remember much about Cursed blades," Tamotsu went on, "but please hear me out with what I have to say." 

"I consent you to do so." 

The dog spirit gazed at the river longingly. "Boh and I have been looking for books in the library downstairs, and so far, what I've gathered about the Five Cursed Blades of Hachiman is that its name varies per owner, such as, if someone killed anyone who wields it, it won't necessarily guarantee that they would be able to summon it because the cursed blade will change its name and the wooden box and the parchment inside that holds its current name will appear randomly and never in the realm of the dead."

Haku blinked. "What is your point, _inu?"_

Tamotsu glowered at the grass beneath him. "My point is that the DEMON BRIGADE probably wouldn't do any harm to Onee-chan because doing so would result in them losing the second cursed blade, which is currently called _Sokushi._ So, it is most likely that they are using Chihiro as an asset and not as a prisoner."

"But Chihiro will refuse to serve them!" Haku bellowed, causing the dog spirit to cower. "Her loyalty is on us, Tamotsu. She would never—"

"Not if they wipe her memories out," Tamotsu interrupted, now glaring at the river god, who only widened his eyes. "Didn't you tell me before that Hideo could do that? There's a strong possibility that they would reformat her memories so they can utilize her. That way, they have four out of five cursed blades in their possession." 

Haku's mouth hung ajar at how clever the dog spirit actually was. "But... Hideo can only wipe out the memories of those who are dead as they prepare to depart for the afterlife, which does not correspond well with your theory. If she died even momentarily, the second cursed blade would immediately alter its name and spawn somewhere else, correct? It's basically useless for her to be resurrected if so." He gripped the collar of his shirt firmly as he stared at his lap. "I know she is not dead for a fact. I've given her a necklace to wear before you and Ichika _spoiled_ our precious date, so I have been able to detect that she is alive. The problem is, however, a few days ago, I was not able to feel her presence. I think she might have taken it off from her body because the necklace feels very cold. I couldn't find any reasoning behind it other than that, so I might have to do more searching." 

"So Onee-chan... could be dead?" Tamotsu's tone stung Haku like venom, making him change his expression into one that displayed hurt. "That can't" — a gasp — " _...Is that a wooden box?"_

Haku followed the dog spirit's gaze, his eyes landing on a small wooden box sitting by bank closest to the river. He blinked, unsure if he was seeing things correctly, so he crept up to it and took it in his hands. He and Tamotsu exchanged nervous and confused looks before he lifted the lid off and took a small rolled parchment from the box. 

Tamotsu gasped. "Is that what I think it is?" Haku nodded slowly before unrolling the parchment, his eyes unraveling the information written on it. 

永遠の怒り _I go, the cursed blade of Eternal Wrath. Those who seek for vengeance and bloodshed shall find me and those who give up to their deepest desires I serve. Call me and show me your darkest dreams._

"Stand back," Haku ordered the dog spirit, who obliged immediately, knowing what was to come. _Deepest desires, darkest dreams,_ he repeated in his head as these words had clung to his head like the claws of a crab. What were his desires and dreams even? He didn't have an exact answer, although he knew Chihiro was one of them. 

Taking a deep breath, he let his whole body calm down, letting his thoughts leave his mind. " _Eien no Ikari, your power I pursue!_ " he shouted. Nothing happened. He opened his eyes, thinking some kind of creature would be in front of him or at least a change in sight. "I must be doing something wrong..." 

He studied the parchment once again, reading it over and over. Was it testing his intelligence? _Calm me and show me your darkest dreams... call me and show me your darkest dreams... call me and show me your darkest dreams._ Suddenly, an idea went into his head. He slipped the paper back into the box, clasping his hands together and looking at Tamotsu patiently. "Tamotsu, I want you to call for help if I start disappearing... or if I act weird while I'm sleeping, alright?" 

The young spirit nodded, his eyebrows scrunching together. "Master, what are you about to do?" 

"I'm about to sleep," the river god explained, causing even more bafflement from the other boy. "It says here that I must show it my darkest dreams, and the only way to do that is to sleep and dream about my deepest desires. You got my instructions?" 

After Tamotsu had nodded, Haku put himself down on the grass, resting his head on one of the big roots of a cherry blossom tree. "Chihiro, wish me luck," he whispered to the tree, hoping the goddess would hear it. He was not quite used to the fact that his _mate_ was the new cherry blossom goddess to be honest since he had lived all his life screaming profanities at every cherry blossom tree he would see when it was his mother's domain. 

With that, he drifted into a slumber, not too deep for him to have no control over his actions in the dream, yet not too shallow for him to be able to wake up before the process was over. _Eien no Ikari, your power I pursue._


	27. Chapter 27: In Which She Encounters the Enemy

**"TIME TO WAKE UP,** _Kao-chan!"_ went an enthusiastic voice that interrupted Kaori's slumber. The latter woke up with an agitated groan, her eyebrows immediately furrowing at whoever disturbed her drift to paradise. It was none other than Yuka, her quite outgoing friend. For today, she had her long red mane tied up in a neat ponytail (Catalena must have offered some assistance for Kaori knew Yuka was bad at fixing herself). She was already wearing the official DEMON BRIGADE uniform—a black and red long-sleeved sailor-like uniform with buttons along the side of the dress and chains that were attached from her chest to her shoulder. Underneath the dress was a white blouse with a color finished with a red necktie. She even had the black combat boots to match her outfit.

" _Kaori!_ " she repeated, this time sounding a little angry. "It's four o'clock, we need to be out by four-forty if we need to get to Minagahara by sunrise."

Kaori sighed in annoyance before rolling off the bed and into the floor. "Why do we have to do assignments this early?" she moaned rhetorically before getting up from the floor. "I was having a pretty nice dream?"

"Is it about Mr. Dream Boy again?" Yuka giggled. "What did he say this time?"

The other girl only shook her head, sadly caressing her short dark brown locks. "I haven't been dreaming about him lately, to be honest. The only thing I know about him is that I have to find him, and I'm planning on doing that once the war is over."

"But are you sure he'll still be alive by then? What if he's not on our side?"

The questions hit Kaori with uncertainty, making her feel even more crestfallen. "No," she quietly muttered, biting her lip anxiously. "I don't even know what his name is or what he looks like. I can only recognize his voice."

She heard Yuka snort. "Then that's gonna happen one afternoon in your next reincarnation. Why even bother searching for this man if that's the case?"

But Kaori shrugged that off, walking sluggishly to the bathroom and slamming the door behind her.

* * *

It was half-past two in the afternoon when Kaori and Yuka were finished with their job. They were exhausted with all the paperwork and running from point a to point b. The job they had was more than just a leisurely walk indeed, but that was expected from the start. After all, Minagahara was one of the busiest towns in the Underworld. Nearby would be one of four borders to the _Other Side—_ the West border.

They had traveled far enough from the East Headquarters to the West, which had been an approximately three-hour trip, rest stops not included. Apparently, they had to be back before midnight since tomorrow would be their departure for Saotome District, which was down southwest of the Citadel. _This is a tiring week,_ Kaori had thought at some point during the day.

She and her fellow elite squad member were currently chilling inside one of the cafes, indulging in their beverages. There weren't many people around, probably since it wasn't a busy hour. That definitely cooled Kaori's stressed mind.

At some point during their relaxation, Kaori entered a sort of trance that enabled her to see a vision. She was in an open area surrounded by tall trees. Looking up, she could see the night sky above, stars twinkling as if they were greeting her. When she looked back down, she saw that before her was a hooded figure with its back turned against her so she couldn't even catch a glimpse of its face, holding a blue katana that appeared to be steaming. Kaori held a breath when the figure charged towards her comrades, watching them fall one by one into the ground, blood pooling around their lifeless bodies.

Applause from behind her startled Kaori and she craned her neck in that direction, spotting a man with chin-length dark green hair and slanted dark eyes that pierced right through her soul. She knew who it was the moment he opened his mouth to compliment the hooded figure's _good_ job.

The man who had been visiting her in her dreams. Was this what he wanted? Before Kaori could take in more of what was happening around her, she snapped out of it in a blink of an eye. Once again, she was back inside the cafe, sitting beside Yuka, who was no longer wearing her kitsune mask.

"Yuka," Kaori muttered as the redhead took a sip from her coffee mug. "Put your mask back on. We're in public."

Yuka rolled her eyes, patting the mask that was now tied to the back of her head. "Oh come on, it's not like we're going to _meet_ the IMPERIAL ARMY OF LIGHT in this _darn_ place," she whined before slamming the mug on the table, some of its contents spilling out and onto Kaori's sleeve.

Kaori hissed in agitation, immediately retracting her hand from the table, watching as the coffee seeped into her white gloves and her sleeves. "Now look at what you've done! I'm going to the bathroom and clean this. You better not do anything stupid, Yuka."

Getting up from her seat, she stomped her way to the bathroom, where she locked the door and took her mask off, together with her gloves. As she began washing her gloves, she couldn't help but study her reflection on the mirror. Her shoulder-length brown hair had been tied back into a neat bun with some bangs dangling on her forehead. Her dark eyes stared back at her with hate and fear radiating from them, mostly from Yuka's clumsy act.

_Who was he, and was he coming for me?_

She wrung her white glove, although no matter how hard she tried, it wouldn't be dry enough for her to wear. She placed it inside her pocket, hoping that when they get out into the sunshine once again, the piece of cloth would be dry, before putting on her mask.

Stepping back out into the aroma of coffee surrounding the cafe, she caught a glimpse of Yuka laughing. Whoever she was talking to was blocked by the wall, so Kaori stepped a little more to the side. What she saw made her gasp.

There, sitting in the same table she had departed from was the man in her dreams, together with a blond man and a woman with short dark hair that covers half of her face. The blond was engaged in a conversation with Yuka, which Kaori found out was on personal details about the elite squad of the DEMON BRIGADE when she walked back to the table to join them. 

"—and we fought—" 

"Yuka," Kaori cut off her comrade mid-sentence with a low menacing tone. "That is enough."

Yuka pouted in response, suddenly having an interest in her skirt. The blond man held his hand out to Kaori for her to shake, and she reluctantly took it. "Hello, I'm Aoi," he introduced with a polite smile before pointing at the two other familiar faces. "This is Rina and Haruki. We've—"

"It doesn't look like you're from here," Kaori muttered sternly, tilting her head to the side as she shot them a stoic glare. "Perhaps you are from the _Other Side_?" Her words seemed to have stung them with the same effect as the venom of a snake, their eyes enlarging as their own cover was easily blown. 

Her redhead friend only giggled in response, playfully smacking her arm. "Don't be so uptight, _Kao-chan!_ " She turned to them and with a grin, she apologized. "Kaori is a little too...skeptical of everything." 

"That's because you're too gullible," the masked girl sighed in irritation, looking around the table to reach for a napkin, but unfortunately, it was too out of reach. At Haruki, she ordered, "Can you hand me a piece of napkin please?" 

Haruki nodded slowly, reaching for the requested item by the tray near him. When he handed it over, Kaori's fingers brushed through his lightly and for a moment, she felt a zap from her fingers, followed by another hallucination rolling by very fast—from her flying in the back of a white dragon to sitting on what appeared to be a rooftop garden, all the way to her summoning a blue cursed blade, up until the moment when she had her lips pressed against his. 

_"I love you, Chihiro Ogino, and I promise you that no matter what happens, I will protect you."_

Kaori quickly retracted her hand from his, pretending like she had gotten a static from him. "Sorry," she muttered, staring at her hand before taking the napkin from him, setting it on the table. From then on, she was not able to gain her focus on the conversation before her, her thoughts wavering from time to time as she bemused about the 'memories' she got from touching...Haruki. If she was correct, all of those memories were hers that had something to do with him. She wanted to know more, but if she touched his hand again, it would look like she was on to something. _I have to lure him out of this place,_ she thought. 

Trying to thicken her face, Kaori shot a smile to Haruki, leaning forward on the table saying, "Haruki, do you mind if I talk to you? Rina can come too if you'd like. There's really something I want to talk about, but Yuka here's being a sneaky _bitch_ —"

"I am not a sneaky bitch!" Yuka retorted, wrinkling her nose in disgust. Kaori gave her a deadpanned expression and was glad that the girl took the hint, sinking back into her chair. 

Once more, Kaori turned to Haruki and Rina, who were now getting up from their seats, ready to follow her to wherever she would leave them. The masked girl shot up from her own, bowing quickly to Aoi and Yuka although they paid no attention to her as they engaged in a deep conversation. 

Kaori turned her heel and led Haruki and Rina up the stairs of the cafe, ascending a few steps before reaching an open space right above the cafe. She walked farther into the balcony but was abruptly stopped when she heard a dagger being unsheathed. When she sharply turned around, she was seconds away from being stabbed in the eye by Rina, who she suddenly remembered was not called Rina. Kaori dodged to the side, grabbing her attacker by the wrist, sending the blunt weapon skidding across the ground. 

"Stop it, Lin!" she barked as the other girl now resorted to giving Kaori a punch, which was immediately blocked. "Stop it, I'm not going to hurt you, and neither am I the enemy." 

Rina, who was now referred to as _Lin_ , jumped back in horror, her dark eyes widening as her jaw dropped. "How do you know me?" she asked in a hushed tone, gripping her hurt wrist tightly. "Kaori—"

"Lin, stand back!" Haruki shouted before a cloud of smoke surrounded him, a green katana appearing in his hands. Kaori gasped, stepping back a few steps cautiously as she watched him charge towards her. Right before she could unsheath her own weapon, with one swift motion, he raised his katana and swung it downward, creating a strong downdraft in the air. 

Kaori was sent flying into the ground, knees scratching the rough surface of the pavement. It stung, although she didn't pay any attention to that anymore once she sensed Haruki charging to her once again, shouting something in the air that seemed to illuminate his sword. 

_Is this it, master?_ went a dark voice in her head. _Call my name, and I will show you my power once again_ — _better than ever._

But what was its name?

" _Sokushi, wield,_ " she managed to cough up before she felt her surroundings explode into flames, fire now circling her. Haruki stepped back, watching as Kaori got up on her feet once again and swung her now blue sword. "Haku," she muttered, causing him to flinch, "you will not destroy me."

 _Haku's_ eyes widened even more, the color fading out of his face. "C-Chihiro?" he stammered, letting go of his green katana, his feet trotting forward as the fire that surrounded Kaori, now "Chihiro", died into heaps of ashes. "A-Are you—" 

_Chihiro_ nodded slowly, eyeing the pavement below her with a grim look on her face. "I am," she responded with a stern yet serene voice, taking her mask off and throwing it to the ground before looking up to meet Haku and Lin's eyes. "But now is not the time we meet, unfortunately." 

Lin stepped forward, only to be blocked by Haku's arm. "Chihiro, let's go home," she croaked as tears made their way down her face. " _Please_ , we've missed you dearly. For six months, we had no leads as to what happened to you, yet here you are now in front of us, alive and breathing and... badass at combat." 

Chihiro ran her fingers through her short brown hair, momentarily meeting Haku's now tearful eyes. She was so relieved to finally find them, yet part of her felt so guilty for not being able to remember what happened. "I know," she shakily replied, staring at her palm. "But I can't. I'm bound to this place, so if you're going to rescue me from the Underworld" —both Haku and Lin winced at the mention of the place— "we're going to have to take Ayato down."

"A-Ayato... the god of war?" Lin verified, muttering the name like it was a cursed one. Haku only gulped, not moving from his spot. "He's...he's part of the DEMON BRIGADE?" 

Chihiro nodded, her eyes landing on Lin once more. "He's the General and Hideo's the commander. If you're going to rescue me, we're going to have to find a way to defect the whole elite squad and Hideo himself." 

Haku pursed his lips. "Alright then, I have a plan." He looked once more at Chihiro and gave him a small smile. "But you're going to have to help me. What do you say?"

As if she couldn't resist anymore, Chihiro threw her sword to the ground and ran up to him before hastily wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling his head down to meet his soft and tender lips that she missed. She heard Lin groan in disgust, although Chihiro didn't care anymore. She was just happy to see him again. 

"Okay," she replied breathlessly into his chest once she pulled away. "Tell me your plan, my love." 


	28. Chapter 28: In Which He Talks to the Missing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the past ;   
> five days after   
> Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I sincerely apologize for the delay! I simply was not feeling well (mentally and physically), thus I had to pause this. Thank you for reading if you're here with me once again. :)

**"OI, DRAGON!" KIGAHA YELLED** as he barged into Haku's room, the latter sitting up almost immediately that his vision went wild for a second, his heart racing as he had been awoken from his sleep. "I got news for you! Come on, get up now and I'll tell you what has happened."

He made his way to Haku's bed, waiting for the river god to finish stretching his limbs and yawning before enthusiastically saying, "Your mother's back! She and Ekisha have arrived an hour ago and they've brought so many advancements to the camp. For instance" —Kigaha pulled a weapon, a gun, from behind his back, pointing it at Haku, who jumped back, alarmed— "they've brought this gun! It's amazing, don't you think? Now we have the upper hand! They're also passing around uniforms and titles for us. They're transforming us into an army!"

"What on earth are you talking about?" Haku asked wearily as he rubbed his eye. "I don't think I've understood anything you're saying, but still, please move the gun away from me, thank you. If I've heard correctly, Ichika and Ekisha are here and have brought various types of technology. Now tell me if I'm right."

Kigaha nodded rapidly, still pointing the gun at Haku, who was starting to get more and more anxious by the second. "Exactly! Oh, and they're wanting to meet you this instant, which is why I'm here."

Haku only blinked at him, sitting there just trying to process that. His mind was still half-asleep, so just focusing was hard. "She's... _Why on earth?_ I'm feeling rather not up to it meeting her right now, so..." Just as he was about to plop back under the covers, Kigaha let out a shout, which only disconcerted Haku even more. 

"Ah, sorry," he prompted right when Haku glowered at him, looking like he was about to pounce on the god. "I know you're most likely pissed, but I assure you that Lady Ichika has...quite some useful information for our quest."

"Such as?" the river god grumbled, rubbing the weariness out of his eyes. "I swear to—"

Kigaha's expression turned serious. "She and Zeniba have been talking about the Crystal of Life for the past hour. Isn't that...useful for Akumu's defeat, especially now that we're putting the Cursed Blades of Hachiman into the picture?"

Haku stared blankly at the sheets that were draped over his body, deep in thought. To some extent, the Crystal of Life was a primary mean for Akumu's defeat—but only if all five were completed. So far, all he knew were: that Chihiro held the blue Cursed Blade, and he had the green one. Hideo is a possible wielder, most likely the black one. As for the other two, Haku didn't have even the slightest clue.

Not even uttering a single sound, Haku made his way out of the bed and in the bathroom to freshen up, not before fixing his sheets however. He must've made Kigaha really bored because he was already sitting at one of the chairs in his coffee table, looking very pissed. "Come on, you fool," the dragon urged, beckoning for his friend to lead him to wherever Zeniba and Ichika were, possibly even Ekisha herself.

It was not far long before they reached the dining room, where everyone was in. Each and everyone was seated in their designated seats, except for Fujiroshi of course, who was standing behind the chair at the head of the table, now occupied by Ichika. Upon noticing her son, her eyes seemed to have lit up, a smile that showed wrinkles following shortly after. Haku didn't react to it, only taking his seat next to her, maintaining a straight face as he balled his fist beneath the table.

Ichika, despite the bland reaction from her son, continued to stare at him as if she was begging for him to even look at her, but alas—it never happened. She carried on with what she was saying, Haku not even caring to pay attention. He just sat there starting at the table, thoughts wandering off to where Chihiro might have went. The topic wasn't so relevant anyway—just simple advancements and changes to the army. Besides, who gave a damn about a stupid uniform?

Lin, who was seated beside him, took his hand and squeezed his, gaining his attention for a brief moment. They locked eyes, giving her the permission to see right through him: a distraught man who just felt empty. She only wrinkled her nose, pushing his hand away and redirecting her focus back on Ichika, who was still babbling about guns and other useful artillery—things he didn't even understand.

For a god, he sure was a weak fighter in a physical sense. He knew so little about hand-to-hand combat, always being knocked out or disarmed successfully by Kigaha whenever they trained. He had started not long ago and had asked Kigaha to teach him his ways right after summoning his Cursed Blade. Despite its name, it was pretty much just a magic wand for him since all he could ever do was perform _cool_ magic tricks, such as summon water forms (a wave of water was his favorite) and maybe move the ground before him. There were restrictions to that however.

He could only move the ground ten meters radius; meaning, if the enemy was eleven meters away from him at any point of the ten meter circle, it would not work. Same goes for the water, which can only withstand a fifteen meter radius. _Quite puny for something so magical_ , he bitterly thought.

He was asked to stay right after the meeting, only him and Ichika inside the room as everyone went back to what they were previously doing (most likely to catch up on sleep). As compared to the last time he had seen her, she was looking very ill and pale. Her cheekbones were definitely more defined, marking the fact that she did lose weight. Her hands were incredibly bony, same goes for the other exposed features in her body. Her pale pink eyes didn't seem to show any kind of shimmer, and Haku hated to admit it that he was awfully worried about her.

All these changes, just because she was a human. No wonder Chihiro had looked more vibrant and stunning than before. A sudden pang of betrayal bit into him and he looked down at his lap, not sure how to start the conversation. Good thing he didn't have to; Ichika was willing to do it for him.

"I see the worry in your eyes, my son," Ichika's honey-like voice started, a small smile she expressed on her pale lips. "But do not fret for I am merely more than ten thousand in age. It is high time that I put my soul into rest and have a deserved human take over my domain."

Haku didn't reply, neither did he move an inch. All at the same time, he was bashful, furious, guilty, and depressed that he just couldn't bring himself to open his mouth and utter a single noise. His mother only sighed, a hand planting firmly on her temple.

"I have heard from Tamotsu that you've managed to wield the fourth Cursed Blade. Correct me if I'm wrong."

He nodded his head, finally able to muster the courage to talk to her. "Yes, my Lady," he quietly spoke. "I...I have."

A dull shimmer he caught in her eyes together with a genuine smile on her face. "I'm proud. But it is quite...entertaining to know that you know nothing about the art of swordfighting; not that I am degrading you in any way. You see, of all your fellow Cursed Blades inheritors, only you do not know how to spar, much less how to actually use the blade itself. All you've been doing is utilizing its magic, but what if the time comes that you simply do not have enough time to summon its power, your last resort being a melee attack? What will you do?"

"I didn't need to know that."

His mother heaved a sigh once again, this time sounding wearier than usual. "You do, but you refuse to. I taught you better than this, Kohaku. You're just not trusting yourself enough to believe that you can do it."

"I'm not asking for your help," was what he replied to her, voice very low and cautious in tone. "I need to know what's going on and how to use these...weapons to exterminate Akumu and his army. I can manage just fine with Kigaha's aid, so if you please, don't even get me started."

Ichika looked very offended, lips curling in disgust. "Kohaku, I know you want me out of your sight," she admitted in a hurt tone, "but I am still your mother and you are still in my field of concern. You are acting like a child when, _for heaven's sake,_ you are over a thousand years old. Even humans act more mature than you are now. I'm utterly disappointed."

 _I wasn't intending on pleasing you anyway,_ he bitterly thought, although he bit himself back from saying that. He remained silent, knowing opening his mouth and talking back would only add fuel to the fire Ichika had.

She clicked her tongue, staring him down with a stoic expression. "Moving on, to answer your question, to successfully defeat Akumu, you must first gather all five Cursed Blades. With the power of the Crystal of Life, which only a human can touch, it is possible to bring him down for hundreds of thousands of years. Consider it as a padlock having five keys forming one big key. There is a catch, though; this Crystal, once the Cursed Blades activate its true power, is deadly that even humans will die just by the mere sight of its true potential. Immortals can barely withstand its power and will eventually weaken to it. But that is the only way."

She grimaces. "That's why it is important that you gather all four of the inheritors. It seems easy; better said than done. One of them is already planning on the total destruction of all these Cursed Blades..." She pauses to take a sip of tea. "...which is why you must hurry before it is too late."

Haku nods his head slowly. "What if we, let's say, fail to even gather all five? What would happen?"

Ichika's eyes widened subtly. "That, my son, you do not want to find out."


	29. Chapter 29: In Which She Forgets the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> six months prior,   
> takes place immediately  
> after chapter 23.
> 
> the past.

**THE SOUND OF GLASS** shattering on the floor brought Chihiro into her senses. Her eyelids slowly opened, adjusting to the sudden light that flooded her vision. It was blurry at first, but soon, she was able to make out a hooded figure sitting on a chair beside her bed.

"W-Where am I?" she asked, coughing right afterwards as she felt her throat dry. The figure reached for something from the floor, lifting it up and pressing it against her lips. Only then did she realize that it was a glass of water. She hesitated at first, not sure if it really was something to quench her thirst-or a poor attempt to poison her. However, if this mysterious figure desired to kill her, then it would've done it while she was unconscious.

The figure noticed her reluctance and placed a hand on Chihiro's shoulder. "It's alright," went its unexpectedly feminine voice. "I'm not going to hurt you. You're in safe hands now. So please, do drink up."

Chihiro felt the urge to ask more questions, such as who the girl was, why she was taking care of her, and what startled her sleep. The only thing stopping her was the dryness of her throat. Finally, she gave in and drank the water, moaning in relief when the coolness of the liquid hit the back of her throat. "That's it," went the hooded figure, lifting up a pitcher of water from the floor. "Have some more, dear. I bet it feels like a desert in your mouth right now. Although who wouldn't feel that way when they've been unconscious for almost two days?"

Chihiro gulped down the last drop of water, holding the cup out and patiently waiting for it to be filled with water once again. Only now had she realized that the figure had put its hood down, revealing a woman with long blond hair braided down her back. She had beautiful blue eyes that seemed to sparkle in the light of the room. She was busy staring that she didn't realize that her cup was already full of water.

"I've been out... for two days?" Chihiro silently asked before chugging down the cup of water. "You still haven't answered my first question. And who are you?"

The woman gave her a warm smile, taking the now empty cup from her hands after asking for her permission and setting it back onto the floor. "I'm Catalena. I've been given orders to nurse you back to health by my superiors, even if I'm not a nurse. Currently, you are in the Underworld, where—" She was abruptly stopped by a gasp from Chihiro, who immediately urged her to continue. "Looks like you're not from around here. But yes, you're in the Underworld, currently in the East Headquarters of the DEMON BRIGADE."

Chihiro folded her legs upwards, hugging her knees as a way to comfort herself. "I'm not from around here, you're correct about that. I'm from the Human World actually." She paused as she watched Catalena nod as she followed what she was saying. "But I became a goddess so... I guess I'm not from the Human World anymore."

"Yeah, okay," Catalena calmly replied. "If I'm correct, you'd be... from Lady Ichika's side. I mean, the Commander didn't tell me anything other than you're part of my squad now."

Chihiro nodded slowly, widening her eyes when she finally processed what Catalena said. "What do you mean?" she asked, her tone a little offensive and harsh. "Who's the Commander? And why is he keeping me here?"

Catalena averted her gaze to the foot of the bed. "Commander Hideo. He ordered me to include you in our squad. We're soldiers, you see. As for your last question, I'm guessing it's because it's not safe to bring you back to the _Other Side_ without going undercover."

" _Other Side_?"

"All the territories outside of the Underworld. I'm not sure how, but he must've been impressed by your swordsmanship for him to place you in the army's top squad. You should be proud, Kaori."

"K-K-Kaori?"

"Isn't that your name? Well, that's what Commander Hideo gave you. So from now on, that's what you will be using."

Chihiro's heart sunk. She remembered being given a name before as well, just so the one sitting on top has total control over her. A distant memory began to play in her head—when Yubaba took her name _Chihiro_ and replaced it with _Sen_ so she would never leave the bathhouse. Was this another of those? Was Hideo planning on her never leaving the place... possibly turning her into an enemy of Haku and her friends?

She wouldn't allow that. Glaring at Catalena, she murmured, "That's not my name. My _real_ name is—" A hand clamped tightly on her mouth, preventing her from revealing her identity.

Catalena glanced at the door, hearing footsteps walk by, only turning her attention back to Chihiro right after the footsteps were distant. "You are not to reveal your real name," she reprimanded in a low tone, "especially not to General Ayato. Tell your name and you'll never be able to leave this place." She removed her hand from the other girl's mouth only right after she said that.

The cherry blossom goddess bit her lip. "But in the bathhouse, Yubaba gave me a name so I wouldn't leave."

"What works in the _Other Side_ doesn't necessarily work here _._ Once the general gets a hold of your true identity, he will bind you to the Underworld and you will never be able to leave... especially because you are the wielder of the second cursed blade of Hachiman."

"How do you know this, Catalena?" Chihiro asked in disbelief. "And how can I assure that I can trust you?"

Catalena brushed her bangs to the side. "That is up to you," she offered, "if you want to trust me or not. But let me tell you that I certainly want to help you and that is not a lie. General Ayato will not let you slip out of his grasp very easily, especially since, as I said earlier, you hold the power of the second cursed blade of Hachiman."

"Second cursed blade of Hachiman?" Chihiro repeated with consternation. "You mean to say that there are other cursed blades?"

Catalena stood up and stepped back before raising her hand in the air and shouting, " _Hebi Doku, power up!"_ A thick fog then surrounded her hand, getting thinner and thinner as seconds went by until a yellow katana was seen in her grip. She swung it to her side and lightning sprung off from its metal, hitting the ceiling and producing quite a huge hole on it.

" _Oh,_ well _,_ that doesn't look good," Catalena murmured as her katana disappeared from her hands. She and Chihiro stared at the gap in the ceiling then at the fallen debris on the floor. "I can always have Kizuki patch that up. But I just demonstrated to you the third cursed blade of Hachiman, which is the yellow katana."

Chihiro was still gaping at the hole. "What are the other cursed blades of Hachiman, and exactly how many are there?"

"Let's see. The first cursed blade is the red katana, which is currently in the hands of General Ayato. You would think it was fire, but it's actually blood. Katana-wise, it's the most dangerous and the sharpest of them all, but power-wise, it's pretty ordinary. There's yours, the second, the blue katana. Fire, am I right?" She nodded vehemently. "Blue flames, and that's because they're hotter than orange flames. I'm the third, the yellow katana. Lightning is its specialty, as you saw earlier.

"The fourth one is missing, however, and it's the green katana."

"Can't you call it with its name?"

"The name varies per owner, so there's no knowing where it is. I'm pretty certain it's kept locked away somewhere. If it has been found, we're going to have to find it and recruit its owner."

"Then the fifth?" Chihiro asked, glancing from Catalena to the door. "Who wields it?"

Catalena lowered her head. "The fifth belongs to Commander Hideo, because only he can wield such a sword. Do you want to know why?" Chihiro didn't react, only staring at the girl in front of her with pure consternation. "The fifth summons the dark forces in the universe, such as demons and evil spirits to fight for him on his command. That's the power."

Chihiro blinked. "So, first is bloodshed, second is fire, third is lightning, fourth is earth and water, and fifth is the darkness? Honestly, they don't make any sense—the combination of them, I mean."

"You can have the commander clarify things for you when we get to his office," Catalena said as she got up from her seat and motioned for the door on the back of the room. "For now, do wash yourself and change into the corps' uniform so you wouldn't arouse suspicion. I'll be in my bed."   
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  


"Why doesn't Hachiman wield one of the cursed blades? Isn't he still alive?" was the first thing Chihiro asked the moment they entered Hideo's office. There wasn't much to see—just shelves lining up against the wall and a table sitting in the middle of it all. Hideo sat there, looking up from the pocket book he was reading. "And what did you do to Kamaji? Is he still alive? Why didn't we see a dead body if you burnt the boiler room to cinders?"

Catalena put her hand firmly on Chihiro's shoulder. "Kaori, calm down, please?" she whispered. "You don't want to—"

"It's okay," Hideo cut her off, a small smile on his face. He turned to Chihiro, gazing at her intensely. "First of all, no. The lord Hachiman has been slain by Ayato, thus why he gained all the late god's powers. Second, that's Ayato's doing, not mine. But he's alive and together with Sadashi and are currently in the custody of those in the South HQ. All you saw was merely a show. Now, we're here because...we'll need to extract your memories."

Chihiro just stood still, dumbfounded. "Extract...my memories? No! I won't let you—"

"It's the only way you'll be safe in this world... _Chihiro_ ," Catalena softly responded. That was also the last thing Chihiro heard before she felt a stinging pain throbbing on the back of her neck, her world suddenly dimming until all of her sense went numb. 


End file.
